After War
by Renji's Girll
Summary: After the Winter War, Rangiku attempts to get answers from a traitorous Gin.
1. Going Home

It was only to be a day's journey from Las Noches to the portal back to Soul Society, but so far, the rip in the sky hadn't shown itself to the troop of fourteen shinigami that crossed the sands of Hueco Mundo's desert.

There were also four prisoners shackled between the six Division Two guardsmen. Their hands were clapped before them in stocks, chained to the men in front and behind each of them, spiritual powers sealed.

Rangiku Matsumoto hadn't looked at them much, particularly at _him_, since they'd left the Las Noches compound the night before, and she had no plans to any time in the foreseeable future. Not after the last three months.

She pushed her strawberry blonde hair from her face as the desert's hot breeze threw it into her view. She hated what the dry air did to her skin, her hair, her lungs.

But that was where Sousuke Aizen had set up headquarters in a war that was to take down Soul Society and destroy much of the World of the Living in the process. It was a war that he'd lost, despite his careful planning, and as a consequence, he was one of the men lashed to the others ahead of her.

"You'd think we'd be there by now," Shuuhei Hisagi said, suddenly at her side.

She nodded, sighing. "You'd think."

They'd broken ranks long ago, the jagged line of captains and vice-captains straggled out over the desert's non path. Only the guardsmen, headed by Soi Fon, kept tightly bunched together on either end of the four prisoners.

She saw Hisagi's eyes go to the darkest man of the four bound men. She watched the man at her side for moment, wondering what went through his mind since the former captain of Division Nine's defection. She didn't ask.

"I don't know why we're taking them back for a trial," he finally said, his eyes narrowing as they roamed over the prisoners.

"Simple. They weren't killed in battle." Her voice had an edge he'd seen exhibited more lately. "They'll be executed at Soul Society. Just procedure, Hisagi."

They walked in silence for a long while, the sand dragging at their steps, hot air parching their lips. Injuries to the shinigami were minimal, consisting of mostly bandage wounds that were treated on the spot. There'd been a few pockets of confused, lower-ranking Arrancar, enough to keep the shinigami alert, but they were quickly disposed of. Matsumoto had heard the whispers from Ikkaku -- who rarely whispered anything -- that it appeared someone had shut off the alarms to warn Aizen of their arrival, making near total surprise possible.

Her eyes settled on the second from the last form in the line of prisoners, clothed in a dusty white hakama and kendo shirt, minus his lieutenant's coat now. He looked thinner to her, not by much, not enough for anyone else to notice, but she knew him -- knew everything about Gin Ichimaru -- and she knew his form was slighter.

At least, she thought she'd known him. Maybe she really was just like all the rest. Ignorant. Deceived.

She'd been prepared for his death, whether in battle or by the hand of some rabid Arrancar. She hadn't prepared for this.

"I didn't expect him to be alive," she said quietly.

Hisagi looked to her, followed her gaze to the stooped white-haired figure six men ahead of them, between guardsmen and shinigami. Her voice was softer now.

"I was ready for him to be dead," she added, licking her dry lips.

"You never know, in war," he said, for lack of knowing what else to say.

Ahead of them Gin turned his head slightly to look back, past the Espada chained behind him, to see the female shinigami trailing. The guardsmen behind him jammed his staff in his shoulder blade, and then again when it brought no response from the prisoner. Gin turned back around.

Matsumoto hadn't met his eyes. Nor did she plan to. She moved nearer to Hisagi so that Gin was blocked from her view by Ikkaku Madarame who followed behind the guardsmen.

Also in the group was Izuru Kira, Renji Abarai, Kenpachi Zaraki, and Toshirou Hitsugaya, but the shinigami followed in casual order, formalities broken within the last forty-eight hours, seated and lieutenants separated from their superiors. Hitsugaya led them, his form small beside Zaraki at the forefront.

"I heard he didn't put a fight," Hisagi said suddenly.

Matsumoto nodded, the sun beating down on them from the cloudless skies. She knew he wasn't talking about Tousen, who had stood on his honorable sense of justice for personal reasons, nor was he speaking of Aizen, who'd gone down until he was bloody.

"Didn't even draw his sword," Hisagi added. His eyes frowned at his former captain ahead of them. "He followed willingly. Hallucinations don't work on a blind man."

"Do you think they'll be executed soon?"

"I don't see why not. Everyone knows they're guilty."

She nodded.

He sighed. "You know how much paperwork _this_ is going to be?"

She smiled at his attempt at humor. "You're acting captain now, Shuuhei. Delegate it out."

He groaned. "To who?"

* * *

By nightfall in Soul Society, only a few hours after the troop of shinigami had returned from Hueco Mundo, the rumors were already beginning. Most were about the date of the executions. Some were about degrees of guilt, others -- mostly ones started among the Twelfth Division members -- centered around the lone Espada who had survived the assault on the compound at Las Noches.

Matsumoto ignored most of the rumors, picking and choosing from those she found most likely to be carried out. She decided Aizen would be executed; Tousen also, seeing as he'd been only too eager to tout his vengeance on what he saw as a cause worthy of mutiny.

She sat at her desk in the Tenth Division office, divided from her captain's office by a double-thick layer of rice paper wall. She leaned her elbow on the desk, her chin in her palm, sitting in the semi-darkness, looking to Hitsugaya's shadow on the division as he worked at his desk in the light of a lamp. She was tempted to stand on tip-toe, peek over the wall at him. But he hated that, and she'd only done it once. Now she always peeked at him from around the corner.

"If you want to talk, come on over," he said after a few minutes. "I can feel you lurking, Matsumoto."

She sighed. _Captain sensory perception_, she'd learned to call it. She looked down at the small stack of paperwork before her. The return troop had been given two hours of free time for personal issues upon returning to Soul Society, and each was presented with only the most basic forms on the trip. So far. She knew the paperwork would increase in a few days until they were all hopelessly buried, documenting each and every move they'd made at Las Noches.

She settled on a question of small importance, to her, as she stood and looked around the corner at the young captain at his desk. "Will they execute the Espada?"

Hitsugaya looked up from the larger stack of papers spread on his desk. "There's been no official decision made yet on what to do with Ulquiorra Shiffer. It'll be either execution or a thorough interrogation and analysis."

She nodded. "And if he is interrogated, what then?"

Hitsugaya's eyes dropped back to his reports. "There won't be enough left of him to execute when Division Twelve is done."

"Oh. Of course."

He frowned over the paper before him, looking eventually up at his considerably taller vice-captain, estimating her pensive expression. "Captain Soi Fon has proposed an interrogation of Ichimaru."

"Oh?" She looked to him quickly, her thoughts on the Espada dissolving.

The familiar frown fell over his face as he shuffled the papers needlessly. "There's been some discussion of his actions during the assault. Rather, his inactions."

"I see." She waited for him to continue, hoping he would without her requesting it. Hitsugaya could be informal, but he took his rank serious.

"Some have speculated some of Aizen's followers are less," he sighed, shaking his head as he paused, "well, less traitorous than others."

Matsumoto didn't like the little leap in her pulse as he said it. "No one forced anyone to follow Aizen."

Hitsugaya's hand tightened on his pen, fingertips pressing on the paper on the desk. "No. No one forced anyone, but there have been layers of illusion in this that need to be sorted through." His eyes had fallen to the report as he spoke, but now they snapped back to her. "Among several. Among all of us, at one time or another. This won't be quite as simple as it was thought."

She nodded. "Nothing with Aizen has been what it was thought to have been."

He nodded. "I suppose not." He turned up the lamp light, clearing his throat. "You can leave, if you'd like, Matsumoto. You're done."

Normally she would have jumped at the chance to be dismissed early. This time she considered it for a few minutes. _A good long bath would be so nice after all that sand,_ she thought. The quick shower she'd had earlier upon their return wasn't enough. Strangely, thoughts of sake weren't on the vanguard of her mind.

She watched her captain make a determined effort to fill out his reports, the pen pushed hard enough to etch the paper rather than write upon it.

"Are you sure you don't need me anymore tonight, Captain?"

He nodded without looking up. "Goodnight, Matsumoto."

She sighed. "Goodnight, Captain Hitsugaya."


	2. Fallout

There was a calm about the streets of Soul Society the next morning that had been lacking for the last six months. The apprehension surrounding the mutinous captains of the previous few months was gone, as was the anxiety breeding divisions among shinigami about Rukia Kuchiki's execution that had preceded Aizen's split.

Matsumoto made her way early along the sparse traffic on the street to the Tenth Division offices, the events from Las Noches replaying in her mind. She'd tried not to dwell on the return trip -- or the successful assault on Aizen's compound -- but memories from years past had invaded her dreams until she was out of bed at the crack of the warm day's dawn.

As she stepped to the Division's front door, however, she paused, not recognizing the feminine voice that came from within the office. She put a hand to her sword hilt, approaching the open doorway carefully.

"...make a decision then," she heard Hitsugaya's stern tone say stiffly. "You have my answer on the matter."

Matsumoto entered the first room that was divided from the secondary offices by a bamboo wall. As she did, a slender figure with distinctly smooth features in non-typical white shihakusho came from Hitsugaya's office. She was young, a studious manner about her movements, and she paused upon seeing the vice-captain to bow deeply and greet her "_Good morning,"_ before leaving the offices.

Matsumoto watched her leave, and then looked to Hitsugaya standing at the entryway to the offices. "Captain."

"Matsumoto. You're early." He looked after the white robed figure disappearing into the streets.

"I've never seen her before," Matsumoto said.

"She's from the Scribes Squad of Second Division," he said, scowling.

She followed him back to the offices. "I didn't know there was a scribe department."

"Something new Captain Soi Fon organized in the last few weeks. With Central of Forty-Six gone there's been some changes on how oversight matters will be handled." He stopped, looking to her as she frowned at him. "Should a judgment of the prisoners arise, it's going to be difficult finding any impartial Divisions to determine a final outcome."

"What's to be decided?" She caught herself from saying more. Sometimes her captain made it easy for her to step past his rank. "What I meant to say, Captain, was --"

"I know what you meant, Matsumoto. I have meetings all day." He nodded at the stack of paperwork on her desk. "Finish that and you can have the rest of the day off." His voice dropped lower, his teal green eyes narrowing. "It may be your last free time for a while, so you better enjoy it."

* * *

She wanted more details about Hitsugaya's last statement, but he didn't wait for her to press the issue. She settled at her desk, thankful for the milder weather of Soul Society after the blistering heat of Hueco Mundo, and relegated herself to a morning of paperwork.

It wasn't too bad, the stack before her, and she worked at a steady pace that morning until it was finished, leaving most of the day at her leisure.

With the reports done, however, came the uninterrupted thoughts she'd been trying to avoid. She carefully arranged the papers chronologically in a neat stack, and then took a few moments to tidy her desk.

And then came the inevitable thoughts. She closed her eyes for a long moment, succumbing to only the most tolerable memories. She'd asked herself too many times _why_, and even more times if she could have altered anything Gin had chosen to do.

She told herself no, and she believed it. There'd been a time in her life, their life, when she had influence over him. Or, at least, she _thought_ she had that influence.

She retied the obi at her small waist, turning it so that the embroidered detail faced out. _Stupid memories,_ she thought.

* * *

Matsumoto didn't want to go back to her quarters after she'd finished her work for the day, not yet, and was pleasantly surprised when Hisagi interrupted her walk there as she rounded the corner.

"Hey, I was just going to go find you," he said with more relief than she thought he should.

"Oh? I thought you'd be buried under paperwork for a week."

He took her elbow and turned her down a different street that led away from where Tenth Division housed its private quarters. "Yeah, I am, but I've got time for this." He glanced at her, making an effort at the grin on his face. "Help me cheer up Izuru."

She groaned. "That bad?"

"Worse. Captain Soi Fon wants his statement regarding the whole last four months. In detail."

Matsumoto didn't like the thought of it. "Can she do that?"

Hisagi spared her a look. "What do you think?"

She sighed. "I think she can."

* * *

By the time they found Kira on the back porch of his vice-captain's lodgings in the quarter designated for Third Division, he'd been into the sake for a while. Quite a while, Matsumoto and Hisagi figured.

He sat on the porch beneath the overhang, looking out at the scraggly woods that backed up to his modest dwelling, where he'd stayed after Ichimaru's defect, refusing to move into the captain residency to which he was ably entitled.

Matsumoto shook her head when she saw him, not envying him for many things. His view of the wild forest was not welcoming, and he'd never done anything with quarters to make them the least bit hospitable, but she assumed that was just the male in him, and not the vice-captain influence. Hisagi's quarters were nearly as bad.

She smiled when Izuru saw them appear from around the corner of the house, catching him leaning against the side, his blond hair hanging, dragging, over his face.

"Tsk, tsk," she said, taking the few steps to where he watched them dismally. She leaned over him, pushing his hair back to its normal part. "Look at you, Izuru. So sad."

He moved her hand, combing his hair into its proper style with his fingers. "I told him not to bring you."

She looked accusingly to Hisagi. "I wasn't invited?" She looked to the empty sake bottle lying near Kira. "Hmm...Why'd you bring me then?"

Hisagi dropped down at the end of the porch, shaking his head at Kira. "Why be miserable alone?"

"Because I'm the one who's got to answer; not you." Kira rolled a full bottle of sake to Hisagi, then handed another to Matsumoto as she sat beside him. "Maybe you, too."

She looked at him sharply, pulling the cork from the bottle. "Me? I wasn't lieutenant to any of the conspirators."

Kira crossed his legs and leaned over them. "You know what Second Division wants from me? A full report on Captain -- ugh, no, not _captain_ -- on Ichimaru's actions the last days he was in Society. Full report. Everything he said to me, where he went, if anyone saw us, heard us, what I said to him."

Hisagi glanced at Matsumoto as she raised the bottle to her lips. "Maybe he isn't the one they should be asking."

She gave him a wary look. "What is that supposed to mean?"

He shrugged. "You know what I mean, Rangiku. If anyone knew anything about him, it's you."

Her blue eyes slid back to Kira, but he was intent on opening his next bottle of sake. "You don't think he could've fooled _me_ if he wanted to?"

Quiet engulfed the porch as they each considered their drinks. Matsumoto looked out over the scrub of woods behind the house as the sun moved slowly across the skies, changing the shadows in the trees. She'd hate to live in the Third Division quarters. She didn't know how Gin could tolerate it. She knew he loved the forest, particularly when they'd found --

She halted her thoughts. She wasn't going to think back on the patch of silver ferns they discovered deep in the woods behind Tenth Division all those decades ago. The lovely frilly ferns with the soft feathery leaves that shimmered gray-silver in the intermittent sunlight. In any manner, the ferns were gone. Hacked down. She'd saw to that.

"Well," she said after a long pause, during which they finished half their bottles apiece, "that's not so bad. Is it?"

They both looked to her, Kira with eyes drooping now. "What isn't?"

She rolled her eyes, changing positions so her legs were curled to one side of her. "Giving a new report. You have all the old reports from that time period, don't you?"

He nodded numbly. "Yeah, but..."

"But what? You know what was said, what happened."

Hisagi nodded. "You've got the details, Izuru."

The blond man sighed, shaking the bottle's contents slowly in the bottom. "I don't want to see all that again. It was bad enough the first time."

"Well, now that you know what happened, the whole story in Las Noches, it should be easier. Now you don't have to wonder if he's guilty," Hisagi said, shrugging.

Matsumoto shot him a look. "He should just report what happened and how it happened, not slant his new report to reflect something new."

The dark haired man looked at her inquiringly. "I didn't say he should change anything."

"That's how it sounded."

Kira set his bottle down loudly. "Some joy you two are."

She shook her head. "How long do you have to complete your report?"

"They haven't set a deadline yet." He took a long drink from the bottle. "There must be some reason they want a second look at him. Or maybe," he said slowly, a chary look crossing his face, "maybe they want a better look at _me_. My actions. Do you think that's it?"

Hisagi looked like he wanted to say '_of course not_,' but he didn't voice the words. "I don't think so, Izuru."

Matsumoto frowned at her bottle, the sake not supplying the warm relief it usually did on other occasions. "Perhaps they just want to be sure of his guilt before he's executed," she proposed, her voice cutting short as she said it. She cleared her throat, not meeting Hisagi's eyes when she felt him look to her. "No one wants more dissension in the ranks over another captain's guilt or innocence."

They talked longer into the early evening, around and through again the subject of subversive captains and deceptions, until the chill air creeped to where they sat on the now shaded porch. Kira was in better spirits, she deemed, and she said her goodnights as they both opened another bottle.

* * *

She declined Hisagi's offer to walk her back, knowing it would involve waiting for him to finish another bottle of sake, and made her way through the darkening streets to her own quarters in Tenth Division. She wasn't expecting to see Hitsugaya's short form sitting on her porch. He looked up at her, apparently having been waiting for some time.

"Where've you been, Matsumoto?" he stood as she approached.

"You told me I could have the day off after I finished my work." She paused before him as he looked sternly at her, worry leasing his eyes. "Were you looking for me?"

"It doesn't matter where you were." His hand fingered the baldric crossing his chest, returning her study of him. "Captain Soi Fon begins interrogation of Ichimaru tomorrow."

Matsumoto made herself nod. "I see."

"There's more." His face softened a little, his voice at odds with the words. "Second Division wants you to be there."

The statement made her spine flinch. "Me? Why me?"

"In an observational capacity. They want your input on his sincerity. I was against it, but in the end Captain Soi Fon got her approval."

His face had hardened as he said it, and it was all she could do to nod. "I see..." she murmured.

"First thing in the morning. Report directly to Captain Soi Fon."

She nodded more slowly this time. "I will


	3. Possible Options

Second Division was set farther back from the rest of the Seireitei complex, semi-walled, aloof, and gated at times. No one would ever mistake it for a welcoming environ. Matsumoto didn't want to go there.

Despite Hitsugaya's word that Matsumoto would be at the Second Division captain's chambers the next morning, she was greeted as she left her quarters by the slender, white-robed scribe she'd seen at Tenth Division offices the day before. Matsumoto looked to the younger woman's slow bow as she stood on her porch, disliking the idea of an escort.

"I am Junana, of the Scribes Squad. I've been sent to assist you during the examination period, Vice-Captain Matsumoto-san," the girl's quiet voice had explained as Matsumoto descended the steps.

"What do I need with a scribe?" she asked, crossing her arms as she stood before the girl's lowered head. "Is there going to be _that_ much paperwork for this?"

The girl looked up, her smooth features hinting at a smile. "I wouldn't know, Vice-Captain."

Matsumoto looked over her hair held in two long braids along her back, the white robes accented with black edging along the sleeves and front crossed closure of her robe. Second Division's symbol was at one elbow on a black armband, but accompanied by a quill beneath the lines.

"Why are you called by a number and not your name?"

"Captain Soi Fon feels it appropriate. All scribes answer to a number."

Matsumoto tapped a finger on her arm. _A non-answer,_ she thought. "Let's go, Junana."

* * *

Matsumoto didn't try to start conversation with the small figure beside her. She had enough memories left from her dreams the night before to keep her company, as they had on so many other days during the last three months. Sometimes the memories came between her and her captain at work, not spoken discordance, but a general disquiet that neither of them could pinpoint.

Momo Hinamori had been a pivotal pawn in Aizen's games, and Matsumoto knew it touched a nerve in Hitsugaya like no other issue. Gin was at the top of her captain's list of undesirables, too, if not outright elimination prospects.

She'd long since gotten over feeling guilty for knowing Gin, but neither did she excuse anything he'd done.

The tall structures that made up Second Division's collection of buildings loomed before them. Not quite as impressive as Las Noches had been, Matsumoto decided, but equally intimidating. The barracks were in the rear, the administration front, all of it surrounded by long low buildings for training and testing, with the detention and interrogation areas in the center, connected to the first building by a long enclosed walkway.

The pleasantly warm day was going to be wasted, she knew, as they headed for the main entrance of the first building.

"This way, please," Junana said as they passed through the front double door, guarded on either side by heavily armed guards.

Matsumoto nodded and followed the slight girl into the entryway that was void of anything, save halls that branched out two to each side. For the next ten minutes they wove through a maze of corridors, some with lines of doors, others with open doorways, empty inside. They took another hall, this one with windows tinted over green on the sides, and she realized they were in the covered walkway, heading to the center building. When they were deep inside the halls they rounded the corner to one that opened wider than the others. At the end was an outside wall, with a high window running the length of it near the ceiling, allowing sunlight into the corridor. Along each side of the hall were wooden benches, interrupted at intervals by thick windowless doors.

One of them opened and Soi Fon stepped out, her no-nonsense attention snapping to Matsumoto as Junana halted them. Matsumoto bowed, her hands before her in respect to the Second Division captain whose exacting reputation was well-known throughout all ranks of Soul Society.

"Captain Soi Fon," she said, straightening. "As you requested."

Soi Fon looked to Junana. "You will not be needed now. You are dismissed."

"Yes, Captain Soi Fon-san." Junana bowed and left farther down the hall.

Soi Fon looked up at Matsumoto. "We're conducting inquiries into the degree of treachery for former captain Gin Ichimaru. At present we're establishing a baseline."

Matsumoto nodded as Soi Fon's attention sharpened on her.

"This investigation is to determine the validity of the prisoner's claims of covert operation, and whether he will be executed," she said, "or if we should consider other options. Your opinion will not sway that outcome. Your knowledge of the prisoner will be used only to gauge the truthfulness of what he says. At this point you are not privy to the conversation details." Soi Fon's eyes narrowed, her tone taking a lilt. "Whatever your personal history with the prisoner is irrelevant. You'll be called in when you're needed."

Matsumoto nodded steadily, the stream of information from the abrupt woman leaving her holding her breath. She bowed.

"Do you understand, Vice-Captain Matsumoto?"

"Yes, I understand, Captain Soi Fon."

Soi Fon turned on her heal, her white wrapped braids catching the air as she did, and went back into the room, the thick door closing solidly behind her.

Matsumoto closed her eyes for a brief second, and then sat down on the bench against the wall. Her heartbeat was fast in her chest, and she remembered to breath.

_Gin was claiming covert activity? Against Aizen? For Soul Society?_ she thought, frowning. _What sort of a last effort at escaping execution was this?_

_It wasn't like him. Was it?_ She didn't know anymore. She couldn't see him basking in his treacherous role as Tousen -- allegedly -- had, according to Kira, and even seconded by Hisagi. Aizen would never make concessions; of that she was sure. He was too entrenched in his own arrogant intelligence to concede to bowing in any sort of contrition.

She smoothed her black shihakusho as she waited at the bench. No sounds came from the room behind her, and no one passed down the hall.

For hours, no one passed. She saw not a single soul. Over two hours later the door opened beside her and a tall man stepped out, glanced at her, and went down the hall from where she and Junana had entered. A moment later he returned, and this time Matsumoto recognized the white and red armband of the Kidou Corps on his sleeve.

And again she waited, trying not to chase the thoughts through her head that pushed out the annoyance of the wait. _If he'd be executed?_ she thought, replaying Soi Fon's words in her mind. _There was some question of his execution? What possible options could there be for a traitor of Gin's caliber? _

She dared not think on it too long, too in-depth. She was still recoiling from seeing him alive in Las Noches for the first time since he'd so casually said farewell that day.

The door opened again and the Kidou officer looked to her, nodding. Matsumoto stood and bowed slightly to him. He took her arm, leaning to her ear.

"Sit to the left and make no sound."

She nodded, and walked before him into the interrogation room.


	4. Baseline

The room was more spacious than Matsumoto thought it would be, about twenty foot by twenty, windowless, and divided into two parts by a half-wall, separated by an entry opening in the center between the walls, the last part of the room visible from the first. Soi Fon sat at a table in the back part, to either side of her a guardsman of her Division. A row of four Kidou Corps experts stood at the dividing wall, facing Soi Fon, standing at the ready behind a single wooden chair between them and the interrogator's table.

In the chair sat Ichimaru, his back to Matsumoto as she walked in, his hands bound behind him in the sealed cuffs behind the chair.

Matsumoto paused, her pulse quickening as she did, her eyes fastened on the back of the once so familiar man in the chair. At the desk Soi Fon was moving papers around, a ledger flipped open before her.

Matsumoto looked to the three chairs to her left near the wall to the outside hall, and sat down in one. Her attention went back to the rear part of the room, where she could see Gin in the chair between two of the Kidou Corpsmen. She saw Gin's head drop slightly to his left as she sat down. One of the Kidou Corpsmen stuck his bo against Gin's shoulder blade, and he turned back to face Soi Fon.

"We will begin again," the Second Division captain said, her tone precise, cool.

Gin lifted his head to meet Soi Fon's stare.

Matsumoto made an effort at composure. The room was thick with him. The familiar presence that lent the air that she had missed so much these last few months, the tangible proximity that distinguished itself, _himself_, from anyone else in the room.

She pursed her lips, determined to remain detached. He wasn't supposed to know she was there.

She didn't believe it. She knew that he knew she was there. Of all the secrets they'd shared, and hidden from each other -- or, at least _him_ from her -- proximity had never been one. He knew she was there.

She wasn't quite sure, however, that _she'd_ always knew where he was. There were times she knew he wasn't there, and other, more secretive times, that she knew he wasn't near. She evicted these thoughts from her mind as Soi Fon continued speaking.

"Your name?"

"Ichimaru Gin," he said.

"Your family?'

"Matsumoto Rangiku has been the only family I can recall."

Matsumoto's fingers tightened on the edge of her chair seat, her pulse spurring. She looked at the back of his light hair, noting he had dropped his head to the left as he said her name.

"You were formerly the captain of which Gotei Thirteen Division?"

"I was captain of Third Division. Before that," he continued with tempered patience, "I was vice-captain of Fifth Division, under former Captain Aizen."

Matsumoto saw Soi Fon study the man across from her carefully, estimating him. "You've pled guilty to insubordination to the Gotei Thirteen Code of Captaincy, with conditions. Those conditions are what we will examine."

"You've already asked about my actions to follow Aizen in revolt, twice," he began.

"And now I am asking again, Ichimaru," Soi Fon said crisply. "At what point did you willingly follow Aizen?"

"From the beginning."

Matsumoto felt weak at Gin's answer. She knew he was being truthful, which only frightened her all the more, because now he was talking about decades of betrayal.

Soi Fon's eyes narrowed at him, but her voice remained steady. "You admit to high treason, but expect to be spared execution?"

"I don't admit to high treason; I followed Aizen with the intent of sending information back to the Gotei Thirteen that would aid Soul Society in undermining any assault by him." He shrugged. "Turned out, the agenda was advanced quicker than originally planned, and I had no time to relay any information."

"You can prove this?"

Matsumoto saw Gin's shoulders drop, his fingers curl against the binds behind him.

Soi Fon's voice rose. "I asked you, do you have proof you did anything to benefit Soul Society in its war with Aizen?"

"Yep."

"Such as?"

"I have maps to the underground infrastructure of Las Noches."

"As Aizen's second in command, you'd be privy to the facility's structure. Possession of maps alone to its underground isn't an acceptable act of covert assistance."

Gin sat back in his chair, sighing. "No. There wasn't time. When the Ryoka showed up to rescue the human girl, Aizen began losing control of some of the Espada. They were difficult to manage from the beginning, and he'd always had only a precarious hold over them. Some of the Arrancar revolted, scattering to the Living World without direction, and --"

"There are Arrancar loose on the Living World?" Soi Fon interrupted. "When did this happen?"

Gin nodded. "Just before Karakura Town collapsed, the mirage Soul Society set up. But the Arrancar, they're loose on the real town."

Soi Fon looked to one of her guardsmen, nodding. He bowed and left.

Matsumoto watched the guardsmen approach down the room and leave quickly through the door behind her. Relief washed over her as the man left. If Soi Fon was interested enough to send a guardsman to check out Gin's allegation, perhaps he had a chance to explain himself. _If he could, _she added to that thought.

Soi Fon looked to her ledger flipped open from the top, writing for a moment on the pad of paper before closing the top over it again. "Did you take any actions to support your claim of aiding Soul Society once you were in Las Noches?"

Matsumoto leaned forward at the question, holding her breath. Between the two Corpsmen she could see Gin shift in the chair, his posture slightly bent.

"Yep."

"What did you do?"

"I attempted to recruit several of the Espada to defy orders from Aizen, when the time came."

"What were the results?"

Gin shrugged. "Well, Luppi, the Sixth Espada, managed to get killed by Grimmjow Jeagerjaques before he was of any use. I believe I was on the verge of getting a solid recruit in Ulquiorra Shiffer, but I'd not gotten an answer yet. Not entirely."

Soi Fon raised an eyebrow. "One dead Espada, and one unconfirmed recruitment attempt? Is that all?"

Gin shook his head. "We manipulated the corridors to allow the Ryoka to enter the Las Noches compound with minimal confrontation. Much like when your assault team arrived."

Soi Fon's fingers tightened on her pen. "You aided _us_?"

"Yep."

Matsumoto tilted her head to one side, trying to see the back of Gin better.

"How so?"

"We shut down the alarm system as soon as the initial call went out. Passages were unlocked, and reiatsu barriers were lowered." There was a slight nod to his head as he spoke.

Soi Fon wrote in the ledger for a moment. "Anything else that would be considered aid to Soul Society?"

"I tried to get my vice-captain to follow me to Las Noches."

Matsumoto put a hand over her mouth in an effort to remain silent. She watched Soi Fon's reaction. There was little change in the captain's demeanor.

"Vice-Captain Kira?"

"Yep."

"What was Vice-Captain Kira's answer to you?"

"I never asked him; not exactly." Gin sat back in the chair. "I was hoping he'd follow me, as he always did, but he had none of it. Smarter than I gave him credit for. I thought if he came with me we could destabilize Las Noches from the inside."

Matsumoto felt sick at the words. _Gin had tried to drag Izuru into treason also?_ she thought. _No wonder the Third Division acting captain was in agony._

Soi Fon continued her questioning.

"Have you any witnesses that can verify your --"

"There're witnesses, Captain." Gin sat straighter, leaning forward slightly. "I let that Ryoka boy get right up to Aizen on the Soukyoku Hill after the failed execution. I figured he'd take care of him, as intent as he was on saving Rukia-chan. Abarai can vouch for that. I can't say that either he or the Ryoka would admit it, though."

"You haven't answered why never brought this to the Gotei Thirteen or Council of Forty-Six's attention."

"When I was vice-captain I thought Aizen was all talk and bluster. And then when I realized he was serious, at the beginning, I didn't know who else had thrown in with him. Later, when it was too late, I was in too deep. I figured I could do better turning on him from the inside."

Soi Fon stood up, an uncharacteristic lurch in her tone. "Second Division oversees subterfuge, Ichimaru. Why take it upon yourself rather than bring it to expert attention?"

He answered slowly. "Aizen chose me. Who better to use than who he'd chosen himself?"

There was silence in the room, a denser quiet than had pervaded before, and Matsumoto nearly yelped as the door to her side opened and the Second Division guardsman returned. He strode swiftly to Soi Fon, bowed before his captain, and leaned to her ear to speak lowly to her.

Soi Fon nodded, and the guardsman took his spot behind her again. She looked back to Gin. "It seems there are reports of Arrancars newly arrived in Karakura Town and Osaka City. I'm sure you can appreciate that development."

He nodded.

Soi Fon looked down at her ledger. "This Fourth Espada, has he any information redemptive of his execution?"

Gin nodded slowly. "Yep. I'd say you can use him."

Soi Fon wrote for a moment, then reread her notes silently. "You may be of some temporary assistance, Ichimaru. You will not be executed on the first blade. Your judgment will be examined in further detail." She looked to one of the guardsmen at her side. "Ready Horyo Four for questioning. Take Horyo Two back to his cell."

Matsumoto felt the blood rush with a numbing intensity through her veins at Soi Fon's provisional delay of execution. She saw one of the guardsmen pull a black hood over Gin's head and lift him to his feet. The second guardsman headed to the front of the room where Matsumoto sat, Gin and the other guardsman following behind. Two of the Kidou Corpsmen brought up the rear, their faces expressionless.

She watched as they passed, her eyes on Gin's stooped form, his face hidden beneath the hood. He turned his head in her direction as he neared, committing a slight bow as the guardsman behind him prodded him with his bo.

"Face forward," the Second Division guard ordered.

The men moved through the thick door behind Matsumoto as she turned in her chair to watch them. She waited until the door had closed before standing shakily.

"You're no longer needed today, Vice-Captain Matsumoto," Soi Fon said, suddenly at her side. She held the ledger in one hand, her other resting on the sword hilt at her side. "I believe we've established an acceptable baseline for our immediate inquiry. I'll send for you when you're needed again."

Matsumoto fought off the urge to ask any questions. "Yes, Captain Soi Fon."

She pushed through the door, braced to perhaps see the guard entourage still in the corridor, but they had moved on. What she did see surprised her. On the bench, where she had waited for five hours earlier, sat Orihime Inoue. Matsumoto went over to her.

Orihime looked up at the shinigami, her face breaking into a smile. She stood and bowed quickly. "Matsumoto-san."

"Orihime? What are you doing here?"

Orihime looked nervously to the door, her voice lowering. "Captain Soi Fon sent for me."

Matsumoto looked over the yellow yukata the girl wore, sprinkled with pink and white flowers, tied with a white obi at her waist. "Oh. Are you alone?"

Orihime nodded, her smile dimming. "Yes." She bit her lower lip. "Captain Soi Fon frightens me."

Matsumoto nodded, putting a hand to the girl's shoulder. "You're probably just to observe someone. Who are you here for?"

"I don't know."

Matsumoto sighed. "I'll wait with you."

The door opened to the interrogation room and Soi Fon looked to each of them disapprovingly. "You've been dismissed for the day, Vice-Captain Matsumoto."

Matsumoto bowed to the captain. "Thank you." She squeezed Orihime's shoulder in a friendly grasp. "Do your best."

Orihime nodded.

* * *

Matsumoto got halfway to the Tenth Division region of Seireitei before she started to feel the impact of the afternoon. She kept walking, her steps methodical along the familiar streets, her mind racing over the last few hours.

It wasn't a pardon. Not even close, she knew. A temporary delay, a postponement, at most. Everything that he'd said, from admitting to aiding Aizen from the beginning to informing Second Division of the rampant Arrancars -- _Was it all true?_ she wondered. How far back did Gin's deceit go, and was it really as devious as she and the other shinigami had been led to believe these last few months?

She didn't want to think about every move he'd made, every word he'd spoken and their implications, she just wanted to bring back the warmth he supplied her, even from across the room, even without seeing his face.

"I need some sake," she murmured to herself, turning into the entry of the small yard of her quarters, dreading finding Hitsugaya on her porch again in the cool of the early evening. Had she really been gone that long?

But Hitsugaya wasn't there. No one was.

She climbed the short stairs, her thoughts on sake.

_Not much,_ she thought. Just enough to dull the ache that crept over her, but not enough to erase the undeniable sensation of his nearness again.

* * *

**A/N: _Death to the traitors! Poll is up._**


	5. Exchange

Matsumoto heard about the new surge of discord brewing throughout the Academy before she even got to the Tenth Division office the next morning. In light of the upsets sweeping the Seireitei, each student was undergoing additional screening before entering their second stage of study, and those in the classes preparing to graduate were subjected to a rigorous set of new examinations.

She sat at one of the couches, awaiting Hitsugaya's arrival. It was unlike him to reach the office after her, but it was also unlike her to be prompt. She looked up as he came into the room, then stood.

"Good morning, Captain."

His scowl lifted a notch when he saw her. "You're up early."

"Ah, yes." She watched him fidget with the edge of his captain's robe.

"Eleventh Division has employed an eight member team to Karakura Town and Osaka City to fight the influx of Arrancars that's been detected." His grim expression narrowed on her. "Did that information come out of your meeting yesterday?"

She nodded, hesitant to say more. She'd not kept much from her captain, and what she did, on occasion, hadn't been anything of a Society matter. "Captain Soi Fon verified it immediately."

"I suppose you're not at liberty to discuss yesterday."

She was surprised by his roundabout query. He'd always been so direct about issues, especially ones that could possibly involve Momo Hinamori. "Captain Soi Fon didn't expressly forbid me to speak of the... questioning," she said slowly, frowning as she recalled the Second Division captain's exact wording. "I suppose I shouldn't say too much."

He nodded. "Are you going back today?"

Her eyes softened, watching his troubled expression. "She said I'd be called when I'm needed again."

Hitsugaya looked to the divider between their offices. "Then you can get started on your paperwork."

"Yes, Captain."

* * *

But Matsumoto didn't get far in the stack -- a rather short stack, she noticed -- before there was a knock at the office door, and Junana summoned her back to the Second Division complex.

Hitsugaya gave her leave without an argument to the scribe, but Matsumoto had worked with the young captain long enough to know he had much more to say on the matter.

This time her pace was quicker as she followed the scribe through the streets to Second Division. Along the way Junana offered no conversation, and Matsumoto didn't try to start any. The dry heat of the day was already finding its way into the streets, more than enough to sap the air vapid, making already sensitive issues on the minds of every resident concentrate into more forced opinions.

No one gave her anything other than empathetic looks -- except for Kira -- as she passed them. The temporary acting captain of Third Division crossed her path, following another scribe, who unerringly resembled Junana. Upon seeing Matsumoto, Kira nearly halted.

She paused, but he didn't stop, only sending her a brief glance of disturbed defenselessness before following the scribe.

Matsumoto sighed. She'd rarely seen Kira look so uncomfortable, and she'd seen him troubled much of the time lately. She wondered if Hisagi would be implicated as well.

Junana led her down the halls of the Second Division complex until they found the interrogation room. They had waited for only a few moments before the door opened and Soi Fon came out. The captain looked to the scribe.

"You may go."

Junana bowed to her captain and Matsumoto and left down the hall, as she had the day before.

Soi Fon turned to Matsumoto, appraising her coolly. "Our questioning yesterday proved that your presence in the room supplies better responses from Ichimaru. We've tested the validity of much of his information, and he seems to be more apt to truthfulness." The shorter woman's fingers closed over her sword hilt, tensing on the leather-wrapped grip. She stepped closer to the lieutenant. "Your place in this investigation is not to weigh his innocence, Vice-Captain Matsumoto, or to ease your own conscience in any manner. It's to find out the degree of truth to his testimony. We are talking about levels of involvement. Do you understand that?"

Matsumoto bowed, wishing her knees didn't feel like they were going to buckle beneath her. "Yes."

"Do you think you can undertake this with the necessary detachment?"

A hundred thoughts coursed through Matsumoto's head, from the anguish at those final few words on Soukyoku Hill to the fleeting, incensed regrets at not having drawn that blade across his throat moments before he'd left her. To other moments.

"Yes, Captain Soi Fon."

The shorter woman's head tilted, a flash of approval hinting her face. "Good. Then your report will be most beneficial to the Gotei Tribunal that is being assembled. You'll be called in when you're needed."

Matsumoto took a seat at the bench after Soi Fon had gone back into the room. The captain had seemed pleased with her answer. Perhaps Soi Fon's own brush with desertion gave her an insight into the matter.

Matsumoto sighed. _Or maybe it only added bias_. She laced her fingers together, tightening them until the bones stressed to the breaking point.

_Could she? _Was she really able to step back from their lifetime together to give a dispassionate report on Gin's honesty?

She sighed. _Was there even any honesty in him?_

She thought back on his words from the previous day. He'd told the truth, even about several damaging, outright damning areas. She knew Soi Fon probably had most of the answers, probably had answers to many questions by which to gauge Gin's remarks. But even the Second Division captain had her reservations, otherwise she wouldn't have called anyone to observe his account.

Surprisingly, Soi Fon returned to the corridor half an hour later. Matsumoto had expected a lengthier wait. She stood immediately.

"Come in. Take your seat in the back, and don't speak."

"Yes, Captain Soi Fon."

* * *

The room was occupied as it had been the preceding day, with the guardsmen from Second Division, and the four Kidou Corpsmen. Gin sat in the chair, facing the table.

Matsumoto stood at her assigned chair, remaining standing as Soi Fon walked to the back of the room and took her place at the table. Matsumoto slowly sat, judging Gin's posture, estimating his lowered head, the bend of his neck, his hands slack in the cuffs behind the chair.

He straightened when Soi Fon sat down, and then he turned nearly completely to see behind him, before the Kidou Corpsman shoved the end of the bo to his shoulder blade. Even then Gin didn't react immediately. The Corpsman raised the bamboo stick and brought it down on the side of Gin's shoulder.

Matsumoto flinched at the impact, as if physically struck herself, fingers of one hand clenching the sword hilt at her obi.

Gin turned back around, without pinpointing her exact location in the room. He looked to Soi Fon, who appeared encouraged by his response.

"You will do best to remain seated forward, Ichimaru," she advised, looking down at her ledger. "We will begin again."

Matsumoto saw his head raise, attention on the captain. She released the sword hilt, her breath slowing.

"We will establish your influence over Third Division Vice-Captain Kira, Ninth Division Vice-Captain Hisagi, and others you were known with which to associate."

"I think you'd be wanting to know more pertinent information, Captain," Gin said. "Things of a more timely manner."

"I'll decide what the timely manner is, Ichimaru." Soi Fon snapped. For a few moments she read silently from her notes, and then looked back to him. She finally asked, "Are there other Arrancar loose on the Living World you haven't told us about?"

"No."

"Espada?"

"No."

"What do you hope to gain, Ichimaru, by being forthcoming with any information now, after the battle has been won?"

"It was my intention to be forthcoming earlier, but you managed to win without much help."

Soi Fon's tone dropped lower. "Don't toy with me. No one is in any mood to defend you."

"I expect not."

Matsumoto's heart fell at his words. _He'd already given up?_

"You're a known fraud. You think _you_ can possibly explain away your traitorous actions?"

"No. I fully expect to be executed no matter what I say," he said slowly, half shrugging. "Nothing can be said to make a Gotei Tribunal spare me."

Soi Fon stiffened at his deliberate wording. "Then why try?"

"I'm telling you what I did, Captain. I went to Las Noches to collect information for Soul Society to use against Aizen, and that's what I'm doing." He settled back in the chair. "Unfortunately, it's all coming out after the war has been won. Not an easy spot for an unused spy."

Soi Fon fingered the pen in her hands, eyes narrowing at him. "What are these timely matters you mentioned?"

"Aizen had agreed to an exchange for the hougyoku contained in Rukia-chan's gigai."

Soi Fon frowned. "An exchange? From whom?" Her head lifted, her focus sharpening. "You mean --"

"Yep. Urahara."

"With their past, you expect me to believe Urahara would knowingly work with Aizen?"

"They didn't work together, not in so many words. They had a few cooperations that benefited mutually," Gin said, sitting back in the chair to a less awkward position. "If Aizen could offer Urahara something he needed, Urahara would aid him. Time diluted their differences, Captain."

"The hougyoku was one such example?"

"Yep. Not a particularly successful one."

"And you allowed all this to happen without interfering. This does nothing to help your plea, Ichimaru." Soi Fon opened the ledger. "What was your role in it?"

"Aizen had Rukia-chan sent on her first mission as a Soul Reaper to the Living World alone, without any experience, without any backup, and without telling her brother. Does that sound like standard procedure?"

"You know it's not."

"He had her sent to retrieve the gigai from Urahara and bring it back. He knew she wasn't able to defeat a Hollow by herself, that she'd fail, and Urahara would come to her aid with the offer of a gigai. When she didn't come back on her own, loitering around the Kurosaki house, she was collected, and, well, you know the rest."

Soi Fon had pushed the pen harder on the ledger at every mention of Urahara, and now when she wrote in her ledger for a few moments her movements were jerky, annoyed. "Your role in this, Ichimaru?"

Matsumoto saw Gin's hands fold over each other behind him, a sign she knew well.

"Aizen wanted Tousen to bring her back. I insisted that Captain Kuchiki go. I knew Rukia-chan would willingly go with her brother, and I didn't think he'd allow Aizen to carry out her execution." He sighed. "Aizen went along with it, confident Captain Kuchiki would uphold his noble promise."

"You weren't?"

Gin straightened in the chair, nodding. "I thought he'd set that promise aside for Rukia-chan's life. If he didn't, I knew Abarai would step in, even if it meant defying his captain."

Soi Fon considered her notes for a long moment.

Matsumoto watched Gin's fingers weave together behind his back. She'd saw Soi Fon bristle at each mention of Urahara, and so had he.

Soi Fon closed the ledger. "Unless there's --"

"Don't you want to know what the exchange was?"

Soi Fon stared at him for a long moment. "What was the exchange?"

"Aizen wanted Urahara to work for him at Las Noches. When Urahara turned him down, time and again, Aizen dangled an opportunity before him the deposed captain couldn't pass up." Gin shifted in the chair, holding Soi Fon's attention. "He offered Urahara what he'd been wanting since the last war."

"The last ..." Soi Fon's interest was piqued. "Clarify yourself, Ichimaru."

"Urahara was disillusioned with Arrancars and anything Hollow-related. Hollow-fication was proving more limiting and unmanageable than first thought. Aizen had been promoting a back-up plan for months, in case the Arrancars failed, which they did."

Soi Fon's face hardened. "What did he offer Urahara?"

"Four breeding pairs of Quincy."

At this statement the guardsmen's posture flinched. Matsumoto frowned at the mention of the extinct race of humans. She saw Soi Fon lean over the table, her hands pressing on the surface.

"Impossible. No one is left, but the two males from the Ishida clan. You mean them?"

Gin shook his head. "No. I mean four males, four females. Reproductive ages." He shrugged. "In fact, they're probably getting hungry about now. You might want to have them fed."

Soi Fon remained motionless for several moments, and then she stood and looked to one of the guardsmen. She rounded the table wordlessly and approached Matsumoto at the front of the room, the guardsman behind her.

"Out here," she told the Tenth Division lieutenant almost inaudibly.

They met in the hall and waited for the thick door to shut.

Soi Fon's voice was pinched when she spoke. "Vice-Captain Matsumoto, is this the truth? Is he telling the truth?"

Matsumoto nodded. "In my opinion, yes."

Soi Fon looked to the guardsman. "Send word to Captain Kurotsuchi."

"Yes, Captain."

The man left, and Soi Fon turned back to Matsumoto. "We're going back in to get the details. You will remain silent. Junana is assigned to you for reports. I want a full report on everything you've witnessed today by tomorrow."

"I understand."

"Everything. You'll be sitting in tomorrow, too, so come prepared, Vice-Captain."

Matsumoto nodded, an overwhelmingly surreal feeling slipping over her. "Yes, Captain Soi Fon."

"Good. We're going back in now; pay close attention."

* * *

The next three hours were filled with details supplied by Ichimaru on Aizen's alleged plans to raise a new crop of Quincy that knew neither their own history or their powers. Plans had been made to provide a lurid account of the slaughter of the Quincy whole by the Soul Reapers, embellished where Aizen thought necessary, promoting himself as their last bastion of hope, and cultivate an uprising within them, should the Arrancars fail. As they had.

To develop the untapped, innate spiritual powers gleaned from Aizen's artificial environment, he had planned to recruit one of the few possible candidates that could be made sympathetic to his needs, namely Ishida Uryuu.

The proceedings hadn't started until Mayuri Kurotsuchi arrived, and he spent a few moments silently reading the notes in Soi Fon's ledger before he took a second chair behind the table at her side. He offered no comment or question, but watched Ichimaru with growing interest, and suspicion.

Matsumoto listened intently, dividing her time that afternoon between being sickened by what had been planned for the nearly extinct human strain, and awed by the magnitude of Aizen's reach.

When she was dismissed into the empty hall -- which was void of even Nemu Kurotsuchi or Omaeda -- ordered by the one of Second Division guardsman before the hood was pulled over Gin's head, Matsumoto hesitated with Junana by the end of the hall, where it met the double doors to the covered walkway.

"Wait," she told the scribe as she opened one of the doors.

"We should leave now," the young girl said without any inflection in her tone.

Matsumoto looked back to the interrogation room as the door opened and a guardsman emerged, followed by Gin and the second guardsman, and then the Kidou Corpsmen.

The men didn't pause, prodding Gin down the hall opposite from where Matsumoto stood. He went without problem, but turned as they followed the corner, looking to where he knew her to be.

A simple hood didn't block anything, Matsumoto knew, as the troop of men disappeared around the corner, out of sight. She knew, even in the thickest night or darkest room, she could find him. She had before, many years ago, so many times.

She looked back to Junana. "We have a lot of paperwork. Let's go."

* * *

It wasn't until well after dark that Matsumoto eased into the warm rose-scented bathtub behind the shouji that divided her bathing quarters from the other living rooms beyond. The water had been poured for some time, awaiting her as she'd found one reason after another to put off the bath. She settled in, letting her strawberry-blonde hair fall over the back of the tub, the sides cool on her shoulders.

As much as she enjoyed her baths, the time in the warm water led her to thinking, and that led to reminiscing, and wishing, and then to hoping.

She didn't want to do that tonight, but neither did she want to go straight to bed. She removed the locket from her neck and placed it in the lidless bento box by the tub. She smiled at memories of the box.

It wasn't much to look at, the box, a discarded piece from someone else's lunches. The sides had at one time been fancy, lacquered in brown, black, red, and gold, most of the flower motif rubbed off over the years.

Rubbed off by her own young fingers as she had touched the smooth sides -- for it was minus the cover -- over and over again as a child. Gin had laughed at her, claiming she would rub all the color off and have nothing but a hollowed piece of wood left. She hadn't cared. She was young, so was he, and it was his first gift to her that she hadn't been able to eat.

She sighed. Aside from the wild flowers he'd bring home, of course. She hadn't tried to eat those, either. The shack they'd shared wasn't an ideal home, but it was theirs, and that was all that mattered at the time.

She lowered the necklace into the box, her only jewelry box. It had been decades before she had a piece of jewelry to put in it, and that had come from him, too.

The scented water grew tepid, but she made no effort to find the wash cloth that had made its own ascent into the water earlier. Matsumoto's thoughts strayed far from the tub.

The last sentence at the bottom of Soi Fon's report -- the page that she'd let Matsumoto review -- hung in her mind. It was a brief assessment.

'_Horyo Two makes no appeal. Information is given willingly, without compromise, demanding no recompense for statements made. Negotiations have not been entered. No conditions have been established.' _

What little Matsumoto knew of interrogation -- which was only what had trickled out of Ikkaku and Renji, on occasion -- contrasted with what she saw in Soi Fon's assessment. Generally, prisoners of war gave up information in order to better their immediate circumstances. Gin hadn't done that. He'd answered every question thoroughly, offered information Soi Fon hadn't asked for, and requested nothing in exchange.

She sighed. Soi Fon's words replayed in her mind from when the captain had stopped her and Junana at the Second Division main administration building, after she'd been dismissed for the afternoon.

"You may be required to take an active role in Horyo Two's interrogation," the shorter woman had relayed in no uncertain terms. "I suggest you get any preliminary visit out of the way before that. I want no setbacks."

Matsumoto had assured her she would be ready. Soi Fon had told her she would be given a day's notice of any such interrogation.

She had held herself together at the time, following Junana through the Seireitei until they reached Tenth Division quarters, until they'd spent three hours recounting the day in their reports.

But now, as she sank into the cool waters, Rangiku gave up, and wept.

* * *

**A/N: _Death to the traitors! Poll is up._**


	6. Precedent

Hitsugaya waited as Matsumoto stepped out onto the back porch of her quarters, watching her from his vantage point of the rooftop. He knew she was up and about already; she'd been awake and moving around in the small house for a while. He wanted to speak with her, but not at the Tenth Division offices, and before the scribe from Second Division confiscated her for the day.

She stood with her hands on her hips, looking out over the woods that backed up to her house, lost in thought for a few moments. Then she stood straighter, turning to look up at him.

"Captain," she said in surprise, a smile brightening her face. "Well, this is unexpected."

"You're becoming scarce around the office." He alighted onto the small porch beside her. "I suppose you'll be excused today, too?"

She nodded, crossing her arms. "I believe so. I can bring my paperwork home tonight and get caught --"

"No, that's not what I'm worried about," he said, looking to the next small house farther down the street that was crowded with young trees. He glanced back to her. "What's going on with Second Division, Matsumoto?"

She raised an eyebrow. "Second Division?"

He nodded. "Every time you go down there, another late night captains' meeting is called and Captain Soi Fon argues into sending out more troops."

"Well, I know Eleventh Division sent eight to Karakura Town and Osaka City to take care of the Arrancars that fled there." She frowned. "And I think she wanted to send some back to Las Noches for the maps Gin told her about."

Hitsugaya scowled at mention of the former captain. "Yes. There're four from Second Division for that." He watched her carefully. "Now they're sending an additional four each from Second, Eleventh, and Twelfth to locate some hidden group of Quincys. And," he said, "there is talk of dispatching two more from Thirteenth Division to bring in Uryuu Ishida and four more from Second to question Kisuke Urahara."

Matsumoto shook her head. "I didn't know all that, Captain."

His hand paused on his baldric, eyes searching her face. "If those last six are sent to the Living World for Ishida and Urahara, that means Ichimaru has managed to move thirty shinigami out of Soul Society, from a jail cell. Even Aizen didn't clear that many out."

She sighed, nodding. "I see your point. Captain Soi Fon is only investigating his claims, Captain." She frowned. "A joint effort of Second, Eleventh, and Twelfth Divisions just for the Quincys?"

"Well, no one thought Captain Kurotsuchi and his troops should go alone, so Captain Soi Fon is sending a detachment, and we decided, for support, Captain Zaraki should go along, too," he said, running a hand through his hair, making it stand up in tufts even higher. "Kind of keep the balance."

She couldn't help but smile a little at the reasoning. "I see."

Hitsugaya nodded, his expression softening minutely. "Has there been talk of Momo?"

"No, not yet," she said gently. "Captain Soi Fon is moving toward his impact on other lieutenants, but I think the focus will be on Kira and Hisagi. For now."

He nodded, eyes sharpening on her. "I think it may be more than that, Matsumoto, because Momo has been assigned a scribe."

Her gaze dropped. "I see." She thought for a moment, then chanced the query. "Do you think they'll put Aizen and Tousen to trial?"

Hitsugaya's hand tightened on the on the edge of his coat. "Aizen has admitted guilt. There's no reason to make it any more formal than he has already. Tousen," he said, pausing, shaking his head, "I don't know. He seems as willing to go under the sword as Aizen."

For a few long moments neither spoke, both watching the thick dew dry on the grass beyond the porch as the early rays of sun hit it. He didn't like the brooding nature of her lately, hadn't seen it for a few weeks before they'd left for Las Noches, in fact, but he well understood it.

"Has he requested leniency?" he finally asked her.

She blinked slowly, pulling her thoughts from an inner contemplation. "No. He expects nothing short of execution, Captain."

He nodded, and then looked back to the house as a soft knock came to the front door. "I think your scribe has found you."

She nodded.

* * *

The twelve shinigami descended into the belly of the labyrinth of Las Noches early that morning, which had grown eerily quiet in the absence of Arrancars over the last few days. They followed Zaraki's hulk of a form deep into the twisting, limestone walled tunnels, ever downward, the air stale and cool, condensation shining on the walls under the light from the overhead lights.

The light was only intermittent, as many of the long tubular fixtures weren't functional. Ichimaru hadn't included the detail on the maps he drew, but Yachiru Kusajishi had been instrumental in finding the light switches before they'd entered the tunnels from the unassuming building in the Las Noches compound. Yachiru had insisted they find the lights first.

Yumichika Ayasegawa's feather was drooping in the clammy atmosphere, hanging lower in his peripheral vision. "I don't know why we had to bring them along," he said in a miffed tone, looking to Kurotsuchi heading the way with the Eleventh Division captain ahead, with three of his seated trailing behind him. "This is clearly a Second and Eleventh Division matter."

Ikkaku Madarame shrugged from his side. "Research and Development has a special interest in our findings."

Ayasegawa shook his head. "Yes. We all know Captain Kurotsuchi's interest in Quincys." He looked behind them at the four members of Second Division bring up the rear of the team. "Providing we find anything."

Madarame glanced at the pink-haired lieutenant of Eleventh Division perched on her captain's shoulder ahead of them. Three times already that morning they'd stopped to consult the map -- the precariously labeled, sketchily drawn map Ichimaru had made late the day before -- for directions.

The map was getting harder to read, when anyone took time to try to read it, because of the moist air of the tunnels and the tendency Zaraki had to spread his big hands over it in an attempt to smooth the rolls out, smudging the ink.

There had been little conflict about which of the marked limestone tunnels to take at first, but after the first two hours of mind-numbing twists and turns of limestone corridors Zaraki was certain led to other interests that should be investigated, they'd decided to spend the time finding the group of Quincys -- if they existed -- and look into other tunnels later. Maybe.

Collective opinion when they stopped for a short rest period later that day was that Ichimaru was leading them on an elaborate ruse, until they moved on for another two hours, when the hum of generators far away became apparent.

Zaraki stood straighter, the first to hear the noise. On his shoulder Yachiru gripped his coat with her small fingers, trying to see down the faintly lit tunnel ahead.

Kurotsuchi looked back over the trailing shinigami, seeing the third seated officer from the Second Division making his way to the front.

He was a thin man, nervous around Soi Fon, relieved to be anywhere that his captain was not. "Captains," he said timidly, "we are agreed that this is a salvage as well as a fact-finding mission, presently?"

Zaraki and Kurotsuchi exchanged looks.

Zaraki answered. "Most certainly."

* * *

Matsumoto had tried not to think too much on her way to the Second Division complex that morning. She followed Junana down the warming streets, catching a glimpse of Orihime in another street, also with a scribe. She sighed, making a mental note to look up the terrified human girl later. Perhaps Kira and Hisagi, too. She didn't think Hitsugaya would want her to speak with Momo, not unless he was present.

Ichimaru was seated in the chair before the table in the rear of the interrogation room, as the other days, when Matsumoto took her own seat in the front half an hour later. There had been no waiting this time, and Soi Fon had only spoken briefly with her in the hall before they entered the room together.

The three chairs on the left of the room were moved a few feet closer to the waist high dividing wall, but the four Kidou corpsmen and two Second Division guardsmen were in their usual spots.

Matsumoto sat slowly in the chair as Soi Fon continued down the aisle to the table, behind which stood a scribe to one side of the first guardsman.

In front of her, Gin turned his head as Matsumoto sat down, just enough that she could see his profile clearly. Her eyes went over what she could see of his face. He was a little paler, which she attributed to the jail cell, and unmarked. She hadn't expected him to be injured, especially since he'd put up no resistance in the final battle of Las Noches, and she didn't think it was Soul Society policy to needlessly abuse their prisoners. But she was still comforted to see him unharmed.

"I know you're there, Rangiku," he said just loud enough for her to hear, attention turning over his shoulder to her until the Corpsman nudged the bo into his shoulder.

Matsumoto remained silent, refusing the lurch in her pulse to say anything. At the table Soi Fon looked to him before she sat down.

"Ichimaru!"

Gin looked in her direction. "Captain?"

"You'll do your talking to me."

Gin nodded, settling back in the chair. "Yes, Captain."

Soi Fon sat down, her eyes riveted on him. The scribe sat to her side in another chair, a thick ledger before her.

Matsumoto stared at the back of Gin's head, within an arm's reach of him, closer than she'd been in months, but still far away. She looked to Soi Fon as the captain searched her ledger of notes for a few moments.

"We are going to outline your impact on other vice-captains of several divisions," she began. "You were known to associate with Ninth Division Vice-Captain Hisagi and Tenth Division Vice-Captain Matsumoto, as well as your own vice-captain of Third Division."

"None of them were ever involved with Aizen's mutiny."

"You know this for a fact?"

"Yes, Captain."

Soi Fon kept her eyes on him, judging the woman who sat behind him as much as he himself. After a moment she looked back down at her notes. "Your claims of covert operation have not been accepted as authentic by the Gotei Thirteen."

Matsumoto frowned at the statement. _It had been put to a vote?_

"It was your responsibility as a captain to clear any covert undertaking through the Council of Forty-Six. Your actions are without precedent, and as such can only be construed as willing --"

"You're wrong there, Captain," Gin said, shaking his head.

Soi Fon leaned over the table. "Your method of clandestine operation is without precedent, and you've admitted --"

"Come on, Captain, you know it's been done before; it's being done now," he said, nodding slightly.

Soi Fon's eyes narrowed. "What are you talking about?"

"You know."

The scribe sat beside Soi Fon, her pen poised over her ledger, waiting for a command.

Gin cleared his throat. "You want me to continue? It's such a delicate matter to Second Division."

Soi Fon was on her feet immediately. She studied him closely from her place at the table. Without looking away from him, she said: "Kidou Master, your corpsmen are dismissed."

The man near the aisle took half a step before he halted. "But Captain Soi Fon --"

"Your men are dismissed; you may remain, at the door."

The Kidou Master hesitated for a few seconds, his hand resting on his sword hilt as he considered this, and then turned to the corpsmen. "Dismissed."

Matsumoto watched the three corpsmen file out of the room behind her. The Kidou Master took his position at the door, standing to its side. She looked back to Soi Fon, who was still staring at Gin.

"You are dismissed also, Juusan."

The scribe stood, bowed to her captain, and left the room, leaving only Soi Fon, her two guardsmen, Matsumoto, Gin, and the Kidou Master.

Matsumoto waited for her own dismissal, watching Soi Fon return Gin's attention for several long moments. Then the black-haired woman sat down and tilted her head to one side.

"What're you talking about, Ichimaru?"

"Kurosaki. Isshin. Surely you know he's been keeping tabs on Urahara for the last few years," he said. "It is your jurisdiction."

Soi Fon nodded slowly. "What makes you believe this?"

"You know it's true. He was placed in Karakura Town as soon as Soul society found out where Urahara had fled."

Soi Fon watched Gin for a few long moments. "Kurosaki was placed there, by the Council of Forty-Six, not of his own volition."

Gin nodded. "Now that is where we differ, Captain. You're right."

Soi Fon didn't look at Matsumoto, but the lieutenant felt that she wanted to. She tapped the ledger with her pen, coming to some conclusion. "What you've told us of Aizen's cooperation with Urahara, there has been no mention of collusion in Kurosaki's reports. Nothing gives merit to their cooperation."

Gin sat forward on his chair, his hands clasped behind him in the cuffs. "Ichigo Kurosaki was Urahara's most successful human-to-vizard experiment. Do you think Isshin Kurosaki is going to put that in a report to Soul Society?"

Soi Fon's eyes dropped to her ledger, rereading her notes for several moments. She looked back up at Gin, and then, for the first time, her attention rested on Matsumoto.

The Tenth Division lieutenant waited to be addressed, but Soi Fon looked back down at her notes.

"This matter will be investigated. Guardsmen, remove Horyo Two. Vice-Captain Matsumoto, you will remain."

One of the guardsmen standing behind Soi Fon moved immediately to Gin as Matsumoto rose to her feet. Gin turned in his chair, looking up at her before the guardsmen reached him.

"It's good to see you, Rangiku," he said just before the guardsman pulled the black hood over his head.

Matsumoto's eyes were still locked on Gin's as the hood covered them, the guard jerking his arm.

"On your feet, Horyo!"

The guardsman pushed Gin down the aisle as Matsumoto watched them go, the words on her lips unspoken, the warm feeling coursing through her veins. Her eyes followed them out the door, where the Kidou Master escorted them into the hall with the second guardsman.

Soi Fon met her at the dividing wall. She appraised the taller woman for a moment, a slight simmer in her eyes at the afternoon's discussion.

"Any mention of Kurosaki Isshin's involvement is forbidden," she said tightly. "Is that clear?"

"Yes, Captain."

Soi Fon looked at the door for a moment, choosing her words carefully. Her attention went back to Matsumoto. "There is a chance you'll be conducting further interviews with Ichimaru. Is that going to be a problem?"

Matsumoto felt the blood rush anew at the words. She nodded slowly. "It's not a problem, Captain," she said automatically, her words stronger than she thought they'd be.

"I may be absent for the next few days. I suggest you get any initial visit with him out of the way tomorrow."

Soi Fon's sharp scrutiny demanded honesty.

Matsumoto nodded. "There will be no problems, Captain."

"Good."

Matsumoto followed Soi Fon down the aisle, waiting until the shorter woman's back was turned before she dared smile.


	7. Remnant

Hitsugaya sat staring at the paperwork in front of him in his office, the lines and ink becoming nonsensical as his thoughts drifted from the Tenth Division building. His eyes slid to the paper dividing wall where his lieutenant's desk was vacant, for the third day in a row.

_Now she gets help with her paperwork,_ he thought, sighing_. Why hadn't scribes been assigned with the general paperwork it took to run the Divisions on other days?_

He glared at the form before him until it was blurry, and then left the quiet, lifeless office for the streets of the Seireitei.

He wove through the streets where brash voices grew hushed when they saw the short captain as he took the streets leading to the east side of the complex. Lines had been drawn for awhile, since Aizen had parted out Soul Society, but lately other, more precarious lines, had been sketched.

He caught up with Momo Hinamori as she was dismissing her own scribe at her lieutenant's quarters in Division Five. The streets were strangely quiet in the Division, what little pedestrian traffic there was moving quickly through the sunny streets and alleys.

The small, slight form of the Scribes Squad passed Hitsugaya with a brief bow when she saw him. Hitsugaya saw Momo on the porch of her modest dwelling, her face breaking into a smile when she saw him.

Not as bright of a smile as she'd had before, he knew, but better than the teary strain she had worn for so long several months ago.

"Ooh, Captain Hitsugaya," she said clearly, lingering on the formality for too long. "What're you doing here?"

He looked to the paper she was rolling quickly. "Have you been making reports?"

"Oh, well, I'm supposed to give a third account of the last two months of Captain Aizen's orders and behavior before he left..." Her dark eyes dropped, her lips pursing at the words. "I'm revising my previous accounts, Toshiro," she said in a lower tone, her voice steadying, "about what Aizen said and did before he left Soul Society."

He frowned at her choice of words. She'd never used any like them before, and while he knew of her occasional use of the term _Captain_ when she spoke of Aizen, he thought it was force of habit, and not truly reference. "You're changing what he said? How can you?"

"No," she said, her tone verging on contempt, but not quite crossing that line. "I think what he said much of the time didn't mean what I thought it did."

He watched her hands tighten around the rolled paper. "Is that your report?"

She frowned at him, then looked down the street where several Fifth Division members were passing, nodding to her and Hitsugaya.

The short captain acknowledged them, and turned back to Momo. She seemed somehow smaller over the last few months. Her cap and shihakusho were as carefully arranged as always, her dark hair styled as he'd seen her wear it for years, but something was lacking. Something Aizen had taken away from her, something leaving her deflated, as if the trust had been sapped out of her.

He hated the change in her. "Show them to me."

She looked at him quickly, frowning. "Toshiro, I --"

He took a step up to the porch. "Fifth Division is without an acting captain now," he said, his voice dropping, concern leasing his face. "And you're in no frame of mind to be acting as vice-captain, Momo. Someone should look over your reports before Second Division does."

She nodded, hesitantly handing over the papers.

Hitsugaya unrolled the paperwork just enough to see the top third before his eyes shot back to hers. "This isn't your report, Momo. This is a performance evaluation."

She closed her eyes momentarily, nodding. "I know. I was to consider it before I made my next report."

He looked to the streets that were void of shinigami, and took her elbow, turning her into her quarters. "Come on."

* * *

Matsumoto had expected to visit the Second Division's detention center the next morning, as soon as she collected herself and prioritized the blend of anger, hurt, and delight at Gin's return coursing through her veins.

_Forced return,_ she reminded herself.

Instead of heading out for the jail cell visit, she received a summons to Soi Fon's captain's private office while still at her Tenth Division dwelling. Not an invitation, Matsumoto noted as the officer from Second Division delivered the writ, but a formal command to meet the captain in an hour.

She gave her answer to the messenger, and finished readying herself before starting off across the now familiar streets to Second Division.

* * *

Now in the hall to Soi Fon's personal office, at the very door of the Second Division captain in the back of the administration building, Matsumoto felt the unease settling over her. Never before had she heard of anyone visiting the private office of the woman. She wasn't sure what to make of it.

_Second Division was unlike any of the standard Divisions, anyway,_ she thought, turning her obi so the detail faced out. It had a definite detached atmosphere, with extra layers of formality most of the other Divisions lacked.

_Particularly Divisions Eight and Eleven,_ she thought, knocking on the door.

"Come in," Soi Fon's voice called from the room.

Matsumoto opened the door, unsure what to expect. The office was less austere than she had expected, with the desk centered in the middle, and the back opening to a wide window overlooking a corner of the training grounds. Part of the left side of the room was hidden behind a chinoiserie screen of black lacquer, decorated with pearl and jade goldfish set against a gold pagoda and bridge backdrop. To the right was a wheeled bamboo tea cart, with dobin service for two in blue and white ceramic. The faint scent of cardamom, ginger, and lemongrass lingered in the air. Soi Fon stood behind the desk, her stare as sharp as ever.

Matsumoto tried to hide her surprise at her first glimpse of the room, and bowed deeply. "Captain Soi Fon."

Soi Fon nodded as the taller woman straightened. "Vice-Captain Matsumoto." She watched the subordinate for a few seconds, as if unsure what a casual conversation should entail. "Please sit down."

"Thank you." Matsumoto sat in the chair across from the desk that the woman indicated.

Soi Fon sat behind the desk. Her hands rested on a stack of papers on the desk before her. "I understand this matter has some personal significance to you, Vice-Captain."

Matsumoto simply nodded. "That doesn't influence my judgment, Captain."

"Really?" Soi Fon watched her narrowly. "That surprises me."

Matsumoto felt she was nearing a trap. "I know how to separate my duties from my personal feelings on ... on the matter," she said with more calm than she felt.

"Good." Soi Fon nodded, and then stood and reached for the tray on the cart. She set it on the desk, taking a moment to pour two cups of tea from the dobin and set one before Matsumoto. "I do have questions you need to answer before I relinquish further examination to you tomorrow."

Matsumoto nodded her thanks, watching Soi Fon turn her small tea cup so the blue design faced her. "I'll do my best to answer."

Soi Fon nodded, choosing a paper from the stack, tilting the top edge to read from it. "Your association with Gin Ichimaru is well established." She looked up at Matsumoto, as if expecting a contradiction. None came. She nodded, looking back down at the paper. "I find it hard to believe you could know this man for such a length of time and not have some suspicions as to his activities with Aizen."

Matsumoto's fingers tightened around the tea cup. "I've thought about that myself, Captain."

"You never suspected anything?"

"No."

"Never had doubts about Ichimaru's loyalty to Soul Society?"

"Never."

"Did you ever ask him about his loyalties?"

Matsumoto shook her head. "It never occurred to me to ask him. There was nothing in his character to hint at deceit to Soul Society. There was nothing in Aizen's manner to make me question him, either." She immediately felt she shouldn't have added the last part, but the words were already out.

"Did Ichimaru actively deceive you during any of this time?"

Matsumoto returned Soi Fon's pointed attention, the light taste of the green tea suddenly dissolving on her tongue. "Actively deceive me? If you're asking if he ever lied to me, Captain, I say no. Not to my knowledge."

Soi Fon tilted her head to one side, folding the paper over itself. "You don't think he kept secrets from you?"

Matsumoto took a deep breath. "He did. Obviously, he did. I never thought whatever he didn't tell me was of such importance, Captain. He'd never kept anything of such magnitude from me," she said slowly, shrugging, "but I know he wouldn't outright tell me anything that would hurt me. He has a very strong protective vein to him."

"A protective vein where it concerns _you_."

She watched Soi Fon studying her closely, and then nodded. "He's always been like that."

"If you were to ask him, ask him clearly, to tell you something of a harmful nature, would he tell you, do you think?"

_So here it was,_ Matsumoto thought. _The real reason behind all the pleasantries._ She considered the question -- a question she'd asked herself on countless sleepless nights over the last few months.

"Would Ichimaru's honesty with you overpower his protective vein, as you call it?"

Matsumoto wished she knew how to answer the query -- wished she knew what Gin's answer would have been. "In the past, Captain, I don't know. Honestly, I don't know if he would have told me the truth or protected me."

Soi Fon nodded, taking a moment to sip her tea. She looked back at the paper that was closed. "If you asked him now, after all that's happened over the last few months, would he be honest answering you?"

Matsumoto took a moment to think it through, as she had on numerous occasions. "Now?" She sighed, holding the captain's stare. "Now I think he would answer me honestly. He can do nothing to protect me, and I am in no way connected to his deceit with Aizen."

"Would he lie to ease his own feelings of guilt?" Soi Fon leaned on her elbows over the desk, her stare hard on the vice-captain.

"No."

"You think not?"

"No. He wouldn't."

"Most men would."

"Gin isn't interested in not feeling guilty, Captain."

Soi Fon sat back. "Would he be honest if you asked him about his involvement with manipulating Vice-Captains Hisagi and Kira?"

Matsumoto nodded. "Yes. He'd tell me the truth."

"Would he be honest if you asked him about Aizen's attempts to convince Vice-Captain Hinamori Momo to defect?"

Matsumoto felt the words pull at her conscience, but she nodded. "Yes."

Soi Fon watched her for a long moment, an unrelenting study that Matsumoto held. Finally, the shorter woman nodded. "I'll let you know tomorrow. You have today to see to your visit of Gin Ichimaru. I'll let Captain Hitsugaya know you'll be working more closely with Second Division on this."

Matsumoto could imagine the confrontation with her captain. "Yes, Captain Soi Fon."

* * *

By the time they reached the source of the low hum, the twelve member party of shinigami were two miles below the Las Noches surface. The air had grown thicker, cooler, heavy with condensation. The food packs carried by the lowest seated of each division contained enough provisions for eight persons, plus water, as no one had been certain -- including Ichimaru -- about the details of the alleged Quincys.

The passageway was empty, but no one had let their guard down. When they turned the corner, expecting another dip in elevation in the half-illuminated corridor, the Second, Eleventh, and Twelfth Divisions walked into a brightly lit cul-de-sac that dead-ended at a single door, the first of any they'd encountered since entering the tunnels.

Zaraki glared at the lone opening for a long moment, then put one hand on his katana hilt, and moved to grab the door's latch with the other, but his way was blocked by another figure. The Second Division Third Seat, Aibu, who had fallen back among the other members of the group again, had pushed his way to the front and now turned to look at the assembly.

"As Captain Soi Fon's Third Seat," he said, attempting a command to his voice, "I think we should proceed with caution. We don't know what kind of training these Quincys have had."

"Try the latch, Aibu," Kurotsuchi said irritably.

Aibu looked to the door and then up at Zaraki. "Strange that it's not attended."

"Everyone has fled." Kurotsuchi looked to his third seated at his side, who was keeper of the map. "Check again. Be sure this is the right location."

Behind them, the other members of the search team took casual stances, most looking behind them at the way they'd come. Ayasegawa leaned against a damp wall, and then stepped away, wiping off his robe's sleeve. "It smells down here."

Madarame shrugged, watching the officers hunch over the map again. "Just water."

"What do you suppose these Quincys will look like? The war has been over with them for a while." He made a disagreeable face. "I wonder what sort of care Aizen has given them."

"Well, they weren't guarded by his best men, seeing as the posts are deserted."

Some of the members of Second Division were grumbling about the thick air, crouching and spitting against the walls.

"What would we do with a bunch of Quincys?" Ayasegawa wondered.

Madarame watched the tunnel behind them cautiously. "If they are Quincys."

Another survey of the map was made, and the three officers agreed that they'd found the designated location. Zaraki looked back at the door.

Aibu looked to each of the captains, who were looking at him with strained tolerance, and then put a hand to the door, turning the latch. It didn't move. He wrenched on it a few quick times.

"Aibu," Zaraki said as the lower ranked officer began to speak, watching the slighter man flinch, "are there any directions for opening this door?"

"Ah, well, Ichimaru didn't include any directions --"

"Just rip it off, Kenny," Yachiru suggested, her small face leaning near his. "It's only a door."

Zaraki nodded. "You're right."

Aibu barely got out of the way before Zaraki's large sandaled foot drove into the door. The metal gave in under the first mighty kick, laying the door flat off its hinges.

They all gathered closer, ready for an assault of any sort, peering into the well-lit room. Yachiru was the first to find her voice, her eyes growing wider as she looked in from her perch near her captain's bells.

"Babies!"

Behind her, Ayasegawa stood by Madarame, looking at the ten sets of eyes that looked back at the search party. "I don't believe it..."

Madarame looked over the group of youths ranging in age from fifteen to nineteen. The exceptions were two much younger in the arms of two older youths. "Mere children."

One of the oldest stepped out from the rest as they pressed against the far wall. He looked at the troop of shinigami with unveiled distrust.

"Where is Lord Aizen?"


	8. Bonds

After several moments of awkwardness upon Zaraki's shocking entry into the Quincy's quarters, the tallest of the youths had attempted to demand answers. He also proved to be the oldest, and introduced himself only as Yura, leader of the clan.

"I know who you are," he said to Zaraki, the biting tone in his voice unmistakable. "You're shinigami, the ones who slaughtered all the others. What have you done with Lord Aizen?"

Madarame had snickered at the title, but quieted at a stern look from his captain.

"Aizen is captured," Aibu said before anyone else could speak. "He most surely is not the man you think him to be. We've been told you're without food. How long has it been?"

Zaraki wasn't as interested in the matter of sustenance as he was other issues, but Yachiru had hopped off his back and raided the nearest Eleventh Division pack of provisions.

"We have snacks!" she chirped, rummaging through the pack.

Zaraki cleared his throat, which sounded like a growl to the Quincys, making them crowd closer to the wall, except for Yura.

"Maybe we should see to their needs before we start asking too many questions," Zaraki said as his vice-captain found her stash of sweets in the pack.

"I think that would be our first order of business," Aibu agreed, nodding.

Kurotsuchi shook his head. "I have questions..."

"Later," Zaraki said. "First they eat."

Zaraki estimated the group of youths carefully. They all shared the same black hair of varying lengths, the girls wearing theirs loose, with a braid to the left at their temple, their dark eyes fearful. One of the oldest held an infant who appeared under a year in age, and another younger girl was obviously in the early stages of pregnancy. Another child, toddler age in a red and floral print-trimmed chan-chanko, was held by one of the other boys. The older Quincys were dressed in similar manner of loose mompe-style pants and jimbei or hippari in bright colors, the girl's hippari embroidered with a marumon of the self-styled Aizen kamon at the edges of the sleeves and front bottom corners. The boy's wore the kamon only at the top left side of their collars. All looked back at them with caution, but one of the taller boys now stepped forward and stood beside Yura.

"What have you done with Lord Aizen?" Yura asked, stepping closer to them.

"I don't know what Aizen has told you, but I can guarantee it's been mostly lies," Zaraki decided, looking down as Yachiru appeared beside him, her arms full of food items, heavy on the candy, he noticed. "When did you pack so many sweets?"

She smiled up at him. "I have enough to share."

Aibu felt his command of the situation slipping away. He looked around at the room, and gestured to the two low oval tables to one side. "Come and eat and we'll discuss our departure."

Yura looked the slight man over carefully. "If you've captured Lord Aizen, we want no part of your company."

Aibu took a step closer, one hand on his katana hilt, a slight edge hinting his generally diplomatic speech. "I suppose you can think of it like that, young Quincy, but you may like to suggest to your comrades that you accompany us civilly, or we will resort to other methods of compliance."

Zaraki raised an eyebrow, surprised at the Second Division officer's change.

Yura frowned, his uncomfortable scrutiny of the shinigami increasing. He finally nodded. "For now."

"Good."

Aibu set about organizing the provisions at the two tables, overseeing the abundant sweets distribution that Yachiru had packed among the more substantial supplies. The small vice-captain busied herself dividing the candy into shapes and colors as Yura spoke lowly to his fellow kinsmen.

Two of the Second Division members took up posts at the broken doorway and the other settled against the wall near the table farthest into the room. Yura directed the girls of the group, who brought the children with them, to the back table where the lower ranked members of Twelfth Division were dispersing the food. They kept their distance at the far end of the table, away from where the low ranking Second Division shinigami leaned at the wall, ignoring his attempts at a pleasant expression.

Zaraki and Kurotsuchi watched the meal preparations being made, noting the keen appetite of the toddler who had few qualms about eating the foreign foods on the plate before him, and helping himself to what was on the nearest teenage girl's plate. Jugs of water were passed, and within ten minutes the Quincys had lowered their guard enough to eat and drink deeply of the water offered, staying ever watchful of the black-robed intruders around them.

Zaraki looked to where the four male Quincys had settled at the other table, the two youngest teens kneeling, eating little, while Yura and the second oldest boy stood, staring back at the captains, refusing the food on their plates.

Zaraki sighed, looking to the single doorway at the back of the room which was closed. He glanced at Yura, who was watching him. "Where does that door go?"

"Our personal quarters," the Quincy said. "But it's been locked for three days. Since the physician stopped coming by."

Kurotsuchi took new interest. "Oh?" His eyes fell on the pregnant girl at the far table. "What was his capacity?"

Yura's eyes narrowed on the captain's attention, stepping in front of him to block his view of the girl. "He saw to our needs, and arranged our meals." He looked to Zaraki. "The doors locked when we heard the sirens. The physician hasn't been back since."

Zaraki looked around the room. "You've been trapped here since?"

Yura nodded, pointing to a small door that blended into the wall to one side. "And the facilities."

Zaraki looked to Madarame and Ayasegawa waiting nearby. "Look into the facilities."

"Yes, Captain Zaraki," Madarame said, and left for the door across the room with the Ayasegawa.

Kurotsuchi angled his head to see the far table. "How many females are pregnant?"

Yura visibly bristled at the question. "That is no concern of yours."

Kurotsuchi took a step toward the youth, but Zaraki put a hand to his fellow captain's arm. "Oh, but it is a great concern of mine," the Twelfth Division captain said. "Of an utmost interest."

Yura stood his ground as Zaraki turned the other captain to the side.

"I think we should save some of our questions for a later debriefing, don't you think?"

"I've never encountered a pregnant Quincy. I think --"

"The questions can wait, Kurotsuchi."

The other captain reluctantly nodded.

Madarame and Ayasegawa met Zaraki after their search of the facilities. "Nothing. Just the basic lavatory. The water is shut off from elsewhere."

Zaraki nodded, looking back to the door at the back of the room, glancing to the latch. "See what's beyond that door."

"Yes, Captain."

Which had been followed by their captain's massive hand breaking the latch off, and then shoving the door in with a single push. The Quincys didn't scatter from the tables, but they did bunch together closer at the noise. The toddler began to cry, and Yachiru threw her captain a stern look as he undid her ten minutes of coaxing the younger child closer with a piece of candy.

Madarame and Ayasegawa moved into the new hall beyond the door. The set of bamboo walled rooms the Quincys shared were sparse, but comfortable, consisting of four chambers for sleeping, and two communal ones for meeting and general living. The meeting room was the only one that housed anything other than cots and stools. Here the room was spacious, with thick rattan mats lining the walls and a large circle drawn in red on the hardwood floor beneath the caged lights overhead.

Madarame looked to Ayasegawa, jerking a thumb at the marking. "Doujou."

* * *

Matsumoto nodded to the warden at the thick, barred gate of the hall to the back section of the detention building of the Second Division complex. The walls were bare, sterile, topped by low ceilings, devoid of any doors or windows. She was unescorted now, even by the scribe who had seen her as far as the building's entrance.

She couldn't blame Junana for not accompanying her. She moved deeper into the corridors, hearing nothing but an occasional cough from rooms beyond the walls. The hall turned, and when she followed it, she knew it was the end of her walk.

The hall was wide, with six inlets to cells to her left, to her right an outside wall that let in sunlight from the narrow windows that were cut at an angle in the wall. They were deep enough so that the outside world was not viewable except at a particular angle, but still allowed the natural light. She noticed, as she passed the windows, that they seemed to disappear when viewed from the interior, admitting indirect light but no glimpse of the outside.

The first sunken hall to her left was barred by a gate, and beyond it she could see, at the far end of the long inlet, a lone figure sitting on a cot. The nerves rattled up her spine as Matsumoto recognized Aizen's form, sitting at one end of the bed. He looked to her, his posture straightening as he saw her. She glanced at the sentinel who stood at the opening of the gate to the long entry to the single cell, and then continued her way down the hall.

The next inlet also ended in a single cell, this one with another sentinel. In the cell beyond she could see another figure, but she wasn't sure who it was; just the gray uniform of the prisoner. She moved on, seeing the next cell, but this one was unguarded and empty. The fourth inlet was occupied, a sentinel at its entry, and she could see the Fourth Espada standing against the far wall, looking out toward her with lowered head, his hands resting at his sides in absence of any pockets. His head lifted when he saw her, but he made no other move.

Each of the cells was of graduated, progressively shortened entry halls, entered by a barred gate. The fifth cell was empty, and Matsumoto's steps slowed as she approached the last cell entry at the end of the hall. The guard there was large, even for a guardsman, of any division. He gave her a swift appraisal, not speaking, holding out his hand, his posture stiff as he towered over her.

Matsumoto handed him her authorization paper, signed with Soy Fon's signet in red ink. He looked at it for a long moment, and then nodded, reaching for the ring of three keys at his baldric.

"You're allowed fifteen minutes, Vice-Captain."

She groaned at the short time, but nodded.

He unlocked the door and pulled it open, the hinges squeaking loudly.

She stepped in, looking immediately to the hall to her left, her fingers suddenly involuntarily closing across her palm.

His was the closest of the cells in the hall, set back only few meters. Behind her the gate closed, not locking, but Matsumoto didn't hear it, aware only of the man staring back at her from behind the bars.

For a few seconds he didn't move, and she watched him sit on the cot, for a brief moment seeming like the boy who had found her that day so long ago when she'd lost all hope, collapsed and weak from hunger. She watched him stand, her mind rushing with images of so many years. She'd seen him as a boy, seen him become strong, rise to captainship.

They had seen a lot of firsts together. She'd watched him grow into a man.

Her thoughts lurched to a halt.

A man that had left her alone for the first time in her adult life, left her hurt and bewildered. Was it another game? Just another game to him?

She stopped a meter from the cell bars, her eyes taking in his face, trying to read more than he was willing to convey.

"Ah, Rangiku, it's good to see you," he said, smiling, his hands closing around the bars before him as she halted. His wrists were in the reiatsu sealing cuffs as well as common bonds, but this time in front of him. "Don't stay so far away."

"Me?" Her hands tightened into fists, but her voice lacked the hate she wished she felt. "You took yourself out of my life, Gin. Completely out of my life. Not for a day or two like you used to, but --"

"I never meant to hurt you, Ran. You have to know that."

She closed the distance between them, her hands on the bars below his, her knuckles white with effort. "You said sorry. That was it, Gin."

He sighed, nodding, his eyes going over the simmer in her blue eyes, the hurt echoing behind it. "I was sorry. I still am."

She'd always felt stronger when he was around, but now she felt more vulnerable than ever. "Was I that easy to walk away from?"

"No. Never easy. It wasn't what I had planned, Ran."

She clenched her hands tighter to keep them from shaking. "What did you have planned? Slip away in the night? No goodbye at all?"

"No." His hands settled over hers on the bars, warm and strong, as so many other times, still able to calm her soul despite the barrier between them. "I hoped it wouldn't be goodbye ever."

She tried to take her hands from the bars, but his hold tightened over them, gentle, unceasing pressure that made her remain. "How could you follow him?"

He looked down at her hands in his grip, his fingers moving over the back over her hand, thumb resting crossed over hers. "You've heard the last few days."

"I know what you've been telling Captain Soi Fon."

"It's all true."

She studied him in detail. He wore the standard slate gray mompe and jimbei, the last longer than the usual waistcoat, looking oddly underdressed without the captain's coat and shihakusho she remembered him in. "When did you start lying to me? Or was it all lies?"

"I never lied to you, Rangiku. Never --"

"I'm not asking for myself, Gin. I'm asking you for the truth."

He estimated the facade slipping over her face. "I've never lied to you. I didn't tell you anything other than the truth, which is why I wouldn't tell you much of what I did." He took one hand from hers, his fingers slipping to her hair, trailing down to the ends that curled just at her collar.

She watched his hand as it moved, her fingers lighter on the bars. "I trusted you. I didn't think you'd --"

"I know. I wanted you to trust me so you wouldn't ask."

Her eyes narrowed. "That's not trust."

"Yes, it is." He looked to the soft tresses in his hand, the cuffs shortening his reach. "Your hair is longer."

A smile crept to her lips.

He moved closer to the bars. "You still smell like almonds."

"Time!" the sentinel shouted into the cell entry.

She closed her eyes momentarily, shaking her head, looking to him again. "You admit you're a traitor."

"No."

"I don't think you can prove you weren't."

He nodded, sighing. "Doesn't look like it."

"If you're telling me the truth, if you aren't a traitor, Gin," she said quietly, her hand moving to his that hung near her hair, "you have to prove it or they'll execute you."

He grinned, a hint of his former self that she remembered. "I think they'll execute me anyway, Ran."

She refused the tears that threatened her eyes. "Promise me you'll tell me everything if I ask."

"I promise."

"No matter what the consequences?"

"Yep."

Her eyes didn't leave his face, watching the smile that had dimmed as he nodded. "Even before Captain Soi Fon?"

"Ah, she's an angry one."

"Gin, even before her? Do you promise?"

"The truth, Rangiku. As always, the truth."

"Time now! Let's go, Vice-Captain Matsumoto!" the sentinel called louder.

She nodded, pulling her hand from his grip, missing the warmth as soon as his touch was gone. "I'll see you tomorrow."

He nodded, and she forced herself away from the cell as the sentinel entered the room. She left the cell with only a short look back. He didn't wave, only staring after her.

Her mind felt detached from everything as she made her way down the halls of the Second Division complex and out into the bright streets of the Seireitei. She was oblivious to the few fellow shinigami she passed, even her own Division members as she found her way home.

She had prepared to go straight to her back porch and attempt to sort through the layers of sensations passing, flipping through her mind, aching into her heart.

But there wasn't time. Soi Fon stood at her front step, Hitsugaya and Junana by her side. Matsumoto wanted to run in the opposite direction, to avoid _anyone_ at the moment. She approached her quarters, looking to each of the captains, bowing.

"You've had your visit, Vice-Captain Matsumoto?" Soi Fon asked before Hitsugaya could get the first word out.

Matsumoto nodded, watching the other woman carefully. "Yes, Captain."

"Good. I'm taking a unit to locate Urahara Kisuke and Yoruichi Shihouin. You'll be overseeing Gin Ichimaru's interviews while I'm gone."

Matsumoto stared at the woman with disbelief.

Soi Fon eyes sharpened on her. "Is that a problem?"

"No, Captain."

"Are you sure, Vice-Captain?"

"She said it's not a problem," Hitsugaya said pointedly.

Soi Fon sent him a belittling stare, which he held, refusing to wither, until she looked back to Matsumoto.

"Then it's decided. Junana will be your permanent scribe for this. I expect a full report when I return." She looked to Hitsugaya. "You'll be without your vice-captain for a while, Captain."

He nodded, eyes fastened on Matsumoto.

* * *

**_A/N: Death to the traitors! Poll is up._**


	9. Closer than Here

Matsumoto was halfway to Second Division when she met Junana. She'd been awake long before the sun's first rays stretched across her back porch, long before most of the Seireitei was awake.

Soi Fon's delegation of Gin's interrogation to her sent the whiplash of seeing him into a new tailspin. The stacks of files left in her possession were overwhelming, and even with the help of a scribe, Matsumoto wasn't sure she could keep up.

The files were inconclusive, at best, on several subjects, ranging from Isshin Kurosaki's quiet observation of Kisuke Urahara in Karakura Town to partial reports from Hisagi and Kira to a very thick file on Yoruichi Shihouin. Matsumoto wondered how unbiased that last report would be. She hadn't even opened that one yet.

What bothered her the most -- aside from actually sifting through Gin Ichimaru's shades of truth and having to glean the veracity of his statements -- was Soi Fon's directive banning her from visiting him alone in the jail cell.

"Always a scribe or guardsman present," the Second Division captain had said, repeating the command several times the night before.

Matsumoto had agreed, and decided to seek Junana's company on a little more cordial level. She looked down at the small package she carried wrapped in blue brocade cloth. It partially explained the three denbu rice balls she brought as an offering.

"For me?" Junana said with startlingly frank surprise when Matsumoto handed her the blue package.

"Why not? I figured we'd be spending more time together, so we might as well make it..." the lieutenant shrugged, watching the shorter girl smile at the package, "more personal. Not against any regulations, is it?"

Junana's timid smile dropped just a notch. "No..."

"Good. Then it's settled." Matsumoto bent to see the girl's face better. "I hope denbu is okay with you?"

"Oh, yes." Junana bowed deeply, her smile coming back in force. "Thank you very much, Vice-Captain Matsumoto."

* * *

The halls of the Second Division weren't quite as intimidating to Matsumoto as she followed them to the interior interrogation room, not when she knew Soi Fon wasn't at the end of them waiting for her. Unofficial word around the streets was that Second Division had dispatched four to Karakura Town to speak with the inhabitants of Urahara's shop, and another four when the banned store keeper hadn't materialized, leaving only his two underage wards and one large ex-Kidou officer in charge. None of which were talking. Soi Fon decided another four, including herself and her vice-captain, could provide a better search for the elusive former captain. And his cat.

She stopped outside the interrogation room with Junana, watching the two guards at the door study her with new regard. She looked to Junana, leaning closer to her. "Why don't you put that somewhere while they make ready?"

The scribe looked to each of the three guardsmen for a moment, and then nodded. "With your leave, Vice-Captain Matsumoto-san."

When the girl had gone, Matsumoto turned back to the three guards. The hall was empty besides them, and she recognized two of them from the other days. She went up to the largest one she'd seen speak with Soi Fon the most.

"You know who I am, Officer?" she asked, bowing.

"Yes, Vice-Captain Matsumoto, but I'll need to see your authorization."

She readily handed him the paper, looking anxiously down the hall where she'd seen Gin be led on other days. "If I'm to undertake this for the best results," she began nervously, "I want Ichimaru-san's hands bound in front of him. Where I can see them, at the table."

He frowned, making his dark hairline bunch over his brows. "That's highly irregular, Vice-Captain, for a prisoner of Horyo Two's abilities."

"I understand that, but if you want the most out of this interview, I need to see his hands." She gave him her half-sweetest smile. "Is that within your authority, or should --"

"Naturally it's my authority. I'll see it done."

"Thank you -- what's your rank, Officer?"

"First Guardsman Kazuko."

"Thank you."

From the other side of the hall came the four Kidou experts, with Ichimaru between them, the hood over his head. Matsumoto's heart sank at the sight of the hood. She'd work on that later, she reasoned. The Kidou officers stopped at the door with Ichimaru, pausing only meters from where Matsumoto stood, as Kazuko spoke mutedly with them. The Kidou Master looked surprised, glancing to Matsumoto, nodding.

She watched Gin's head turn in her direction, hating that she hadn't thought of the hood earlier.

"Move on," Kazuko said, and the Kidou officers, Ichimaru, and another Second Division guardsman moved into the room.

"You'll be allowed in once the prisoner is secured," Kazuko said, and then disappeared into the room with the other men.

Matsumoto nodded, and looked behind her as Juusan came into the hall, bowing to her.

"Vice-Captain Matsumoto-san, I am Juusan," she said, bowing again. "Captain Soi Fon has ordered me to sit in for notes during the interrogations."

"I already have a scribe, Junana."

"I am Captain Soi Fon's scribe."

Matsumoto sighed. "Very well." _Little spy,_ she thought.

Junana returned then, and the scribes nodded to each other, waiting with Matsumoto while the guardsmen remained behind the closed door. Matsumoto watched the door, trying to calm the rapid beat of her heart. She didn't need to see Gin's hands to know if he was lying or not. He said he'd never lied to her, so if he did now, she should know. It would contrast with everything she knew of him.

She frowned. _Unless he's been lying all the time_, she thought. Maybe she didn't know, couldn't tell if he was being outright deceitful with her. She'd be easy to fool; she'd been fooled for a long time, along with everyone else.

She glanced down at the ledger and stack of papers -- and questions -- she held. All of Soi Fon's groundwork, all the questions that had been asked to develop a baseline to judge his lies from the truth, it was supposed to be used by the Second Division captain to provide a gauge into Gin Ichimaru's honesty.

Of all the questions she was to ask, none were the ones she wanted answers to most. But she'd ask them.

If she got the truth, it may save his life. _If she got the truth,_ she thought with a sigh, _it may also send him under the executioner's blade._

The door opened and Kazuko looked out to them. "We're ready now."

Matsumoto nodded, and went into the room with the two scribes.

She was pleased to see Kazuko had kept his word. Gin sat at the table, the hood removed, his hands bound by the sealed cuffs, and a second pair of thick metal handcuffs secured to the table by a short tether, allowing him very limited movement. He hadn't turned when the door opened, but when Matsumoto was halfway down the aisle, he did, his eyes opening more than usual when he saw her pass her usual chair at the front of the room.

He watched her approach the table, wary disbelief evident in his face. She allowed a small smile, a blend of too many emotions to pick any certain one. Beside Soi Fon's usual chair was a second smaller chair, turned with its back against the table, and another likewise positioned at the short end of the table. Matsumoto looked curiously at these as she took Soi Fon's chair, and then watched Junana and Juusan each take one of the other chairs, Junana sitting beside Matsumoto, facing the opposite wall behind her.

Matsumoto sat slowly, watching the scribes both take their pads of paper and turn to a blank page, pens poised, ready. She looked to Gin's surprised face, which spread into a grin at her.

"Ah, Rangiku, this is better." He leaned slightly over the table, bringing a shift in posture from the two guardsmen to either side of the table ends. "Why you?"

"Captain Soi Fon is elsewhere right now," she said cautiously, overly aware of his nearness as well as that of the guards and Kidou corpsmen. "I need the truth, Gin."

"Yep, and I'll tell it to you, as always."

She watched his hands as he said it, closing into fists as he said it, bolted to the table in the cuffs. "I really need the truth, nothing more or less. Not just for me."

He nodded slowly. "Ask your questions, Rangiku, and I'll answer any you put, with the truth."

She looked down to the ledger of questions that had been prepared for her, and then to Junana beside her. The scribe's head was lowered over her own tablet, her eyes on the paper, not moving, the pen waiting. Matsumoto looked to Juusan in a similar posture, and then to the guardsmen and corpsmen in the room. She closed the ledger.

She looked back to Gin, wishing she didn't know what she'd learned lately. "Are you treated okay in the cell? Do you have everything you need?"

"Ran, that's not what this is about, and you know better."

"I know what this is about, Gin; I want to know if you're okay."

"Yep. Fed and watered."

"Oh, stop it."

He watched her open the ledger and study the questions on the page before closing it again. "You want me to start?"

Her hands clenched on the ledger. "No. You've done enough for me, Gin. Ever since I can remember."

"I always wanted to." He leaned his elbows on the table, smiling sadly at her. "You know that, don't you?"

She nodded, looking down at the ledger, avoiding the questions she really wanted to ask. "You got tired of it. Of me. That's why you were so quick to follow him?"

His smile dropped. "No, never, Ran."

She frowned, opening the ledger to see the first page, and then shutting it again, hearing the scribes writing on their separate pads. "I have to ask you about your recruitment efforts. About Hisagi, Kira, and well, others."

"I never tired of you, Rangiku," he said in a lower tone, watching her eyes remain on the ledger. "Tell me you believe me."

"All the years, ever since I can remember, it's always been you. And look at us now." She hated that the scribes were scratching down every word she said, but she had to get it out of the way. "I don't remember anything before you. Do you know that?'

He sighed, nodding. "I'm sorry, Ran."

It was that word, the simple _sorry_, that had spurred so many nightmares and frenzies that made her level the silver ferns in the forest on several accounts. "You made me live, Gin. You created my world for me," she said lowly, leaning closer over the table. "How could you just walk away with a farewell and a sorry?"

"I was wrong."

"It was just a game?"

"No. Nothing was ever a game with you, Rangiku."

Her throat felt dry, making her words difficult. "You cut my feet out from under me, Gin. No one could ever have done that to me, but you."

He shook his head.

"I needed you since we met."

His hand reached for hers, the shackle barely allowing the movement. Her fingers curled away from his.

"I've never denied you anything," she said as steadily as she could, her tone verging on fury as she watched him. "Or you me. Ever."

"You're right."

"We couldn't have been closer. When we were young, every time someone hurt me, you were there, Gin. You fixed it. I leaned on you." She scowled at him, the ache ebbing to the surface. "Now you're the one that did it, threw me away, and I had no one to go to!"

She slapped him. He looked to her with some confusion, but not complete surprised, not nearly as stunned as she was.

"Oh, no..." She reached across the table, wiping the small point of blood that appeared at the corner of his mouth with her finger. "I didn't mean it, Gin," she murmured.

"Oh, you did, woman." He grinned. "I deserved that one."

Both scribes had paused their pens at the movement, but now resumed their writing. Kazuko halted his half step at the slap, awaiting word from Matsumoto, but she was unaware of him.

"I'm sorry, Gin," she said again, taking the pink scarf from her robe and dabbing at the tiny trail of blood that had already stopped.

"Ran, you're fussing over nothing," he said as her hand moved away from his lip.

She looked down at the ledger. "I'm sorry, Gin."

"You can take another swing at me if you'll feel better," he said, chuckling, angling his head to see her face better. "Come on. Either hit me or ask your questions."

She nodded, sighing. It took a few moments for her to decide on her first set of questions, and she was no longer in any mood to delve as deeply into anything. Her eyes skimmed the questions and talking-points, and then she closed the ledger. She looked up at him, his semi-grin inviting conversation, not examination. She crossed her arms on the table, leaning over the table, looking to each of his eyes.

"Tell me about Kurosaki-san and Urahara. Did Urahara really work with Aizen?"

He nodded. "Like I told Captain Soi Fon, Ran, occasionally. They didn't partner up on everything, but they saw eye-to-eye on enough to find common ground. When Ichigo Kurosaki got picked up by Urahara, wanting to train hard enough to be sent to Soil Society, Urahara couldn't resist the chance at trying out his latest theory. He knew the boy was too inexperienced to face any of the vice-captains or captains as he was; he knew he'd need more developing." He shrugged. "Miss Yoruichi was in charge of keeping the boy in line, but, you know him, he got too ambitious, and went to face down Captain Byakuya before he was ready."

"That was all it was about? Urahara's need to test a theory?"

"Far as I know." He shrugged. "He was kind of short on testing material."

"Why didn't Kurosaki-san put any of this in his reports, since he was supposed to keep an eye on Urahara?"

He shook his head, smiling at her intent interest, watching her eyes. "I don't know that he didn't put it in a report. Captain Soi Fon might not be entirely truthful on that, it being a covert operation and all."

"Oh." She looked down at her notes, glancing at the different questions before turning the page.

"I suppose Captain Soi Fon would want to be there in person for any such investigation into Urahara," he said, nodding.

She tried not to smile, recognizing the manner in his voice, knowing the teasing tone well.

"I know, Ran. You can neither confirm nor deny anything of the nature." He leaned closer over the table. "Whatever takes her out of the way."

She read the note at the bottom of the page, noticing for the first time Soi Fon had listed a time limit for the initial interview. She glanced at Kazuko, who was watching them out of the corner of his eye. _He knows the time is nearly finished,_ she thought. _Probably one of Captain Soi Fon's tests. _

She closed the ledger and looked to Gin, her eyes softening as she saw the small line at the corner of his mouth. "I can't visit you alone anymore."

He nodded slowly. "I suppose you'll bring one of these little shadows with you." If he had expected a reaction from the scribes, he got none. "Quiet things, aren't they?"

Matsumoto nodded, wishing she could take his voice back to her quarters with her. "You've promised to be honest, Gin." She looked down as his fingertips rested on hers, barely within reach. She made a steely effort not to grasp his hand in hers. Instead she slid her fingers beneath his minutely, seeing Kazuko note the movement. "I have no sway over the outcome of these interviews."

"I'll tell you the truth, Rangiku."

She nodded, and then reluctantly withdrew her hand slightly. "First Guardsman Kazuko, I'm finished for the day."

Kazuko looked to the Kidou Master. "Horyo Two moving." He looked to Ichimaru. "On your feet."

"No hood," Matsumoto said as she stood as he rose, seeing the guardsman approached with the black covering.

"It's procedure, Vice-Captain Matsumoto-san," Kazuko said, nodding to the second guardsman.

She watched as Gin's face disappeared from her view as he stood across the table from her, his cuffs unlocked at the table block. "Tomorrow," she said.

"Tomorrow," he said as the guardsmen and corpsmen escorted him down the aisle.

Matsumoto stood there watching him ushered through the door and into the hall beyond, oblivious to the scribes standing at the table until Juusan made a quiet query.

"May I be dismissed, Vice-Captain Matsumoto-san?"

She looked to the younger woman, seeing the row of yellow that edged the Second Division scribes insignia on her armband. "Yes, Juusan. Thank you."

Juusan bowed and left the room. Matsumoto looked to Junana still beside her at the backwards chair.

"Did you get all your notes?" she asked the girl.

"Yes, Vice-Captain Matsumoto-san."

The taller woman folded the pink scarf carefully, seeing the small spot of darker color at one corner. "Come to my quarters later today. In about two hours, okay?"

Junana nodded slowly. "I should escort you until --"

"I'll be fine without an escort for two hours, Junana. We'll get started on our notes then."

The scribe considered this for a moment, and then nodded, bowing. "With your leave, Vice-Captain Matsumoto-san."

She waited until the scribe was well ahead of her before Matsumoto left the complex, wishing she could find a way to slip into the detention area without an attendant, but didn't want to chance it. Instead she headed through the sunny streets of the Seireitei, taking the less traveled routes, until she was at the perimeter of the woods.

She gripped the ledger and bundle of files closer, and wound her way deep into the trees to where she knew the new growth of silver ferns were attempting a rebound after her last assault.

* * *

**A/N: _Death to the Traitors! Poll is up._**


	10. Failed Attempt

The arrival of the Quincys into Soul Society did not go unnoticed. Rumor had spread by the following morning that the twelve members of the joint Division expedition had returned, and the tribe of ten extant humans thought to have been destroyed sent contrasting ripples of speculation among the Seireitei streets.

Among the reports were conjecture as to what Twelfth Division would do with the new addition to Kurotsuchi's laboratory, gossip fueled by the Twelfth Division captain himself in hopes of swaying opinion in his favor, should the Gotei 13 put it to a vote.

Hitsugaya had watched their arrival early that morning, a slow precession that stopped what little pedestrian traffic there was on the streets. The Quincys had moved slowly, most with their faces shielded by their unbound hands, the bright sun still alien to them, their eyesight nearly blinded, a natural detriment that had made any sort of restraint unnecessary. His eyes fell to the two figures carrying the youngest members. The toddler was straddled behind one of the teen boys, piggy-back style, the child's head buried in the older one's dark hair to block the unfriendly sun. The infant was tucked in a sling across one of the oldest girl's chest, her hand cupped over the baby's face, her other hand on the shoulder of the taller boy in front of her for support and guidance as she walked with her head lowered to shield the sun.

Hitsugaya sighed, looking to Momo standing beside him, her eyes following the dusty, weary pack of shinigami and Quincy as they passed through the streets to the Gotei 13 headquarters.

"If you make that public, it would help clear your standing among the other captains," he said, looking to the letter gripped tightly in her hand at her side.

Momo looked to the worn, creased letter that she'd reread too many times. "My probationary time is almost up, and Fifth Division needs a full captain. They'll never choose me to take Aizen's position," she said, her voice steadying as she watched the troop move through the streets. "I don't want a captainship, Toshiro. But I do want my standing restored."

He nodded as the group of shinigami and Quincys moved out of sight. "Your new report looks promising, Momo. This is a good time to deliver it. A vote can be made before Captain Soi Fon returns, so you've got one less negation to worry about."

She sighed, looking down at the letter she'd read until memorized, and then reread until the words on the paper sounded more unlike the Captain Aizen she'd served. Hitsugaya was right; she'd finally come to that conclusion over the last few months, when the words were weighed against actions.

Hitsugaya watched the few lower ranking members of Fourth Division hurrying to catch up with the returning group moving toward the Gotei 13 headquarters. He looked to Momo.

"Let's get you statement prepared."

* * *

Matsumoto wasn't able to persuade First Guardsman Kazuko to leave off the hood as Ichimaru was moved from his cell to the interrogation room in Second Division later that day. She hadn't pushed the subject, deciding to try again at another time.

Entering the room in the Second Division interior was a little easier than the day before; difficult because she knew what she was to do there, but with more anticipation because she would once again be closer to _him_.

The scribes were in their places, the Kidou Corp and guardsmen present, and Gin was across from her as she undertook her second interview with him. She'd read farther into Soi Fon's notes, this time noticing the timeframe the absent captain had outlined. She felt Gin's eyes on her and looked up to his slight smile.

"Is this going to be a permanent arrangement now, Rangiku?"

She hid part of the smile that surfaced. "I'm here for the truth."

"I told you I'd tell it to you."

"I have to ask about details to some of your allegations, Gin," she said, looking to his hands bound at the table block.

"Oh, you're going to jump right into everything today, Ran?"

She gave him a resigned look. "I want to know."

He nodded, sighing.

"You've told Captain Soi Fon you aided the assault team when we first approached Las Noches."

"Yep, it's true."

"You shut down the alarms?"

"I let the initial alarm go off, but canceled the alerts. I told Ulquiorra to withdraw the Arrancar reserves that were called up with the second alarms," he said, nodding.

She frowned. "And he did?"

"Yep. Right quick."

"Ulquiorra withdrew reserve forces?"

"Yep. Without question."

Matsumoto looked to the scribes as each girl wrote quickly on their pads of paper. "Had you asked him beforehand about refusing orders from Aizen at that point?"

Gin sat back in the chair, his smile shifting to a line. "Not exactly. I never put it in quite those simple of terms."

"Why not?"

"I wasn't done calculating his compliance. I didn't want to ask too soon and have him go squealing to Tousen or Aizen."

"But you thought you could ask him something like that at the moment of attack and he'd agree, knowing it was counteractive?" she asked, leaning closer over the table.

"He was a thinking one, not one of those mindless ones. Thought of himself as clever," he said, sitting forward, resting his forearms on the table, his hands clasped before him. "We'd talked about the direction Aizen was taking on a few occasions, finding fault with the design of the compound."

She opened the ledger and looked down at it for a moment. "What sort of fault?"

"It had weak spots, areas easier to access the interior. He knew it. We talked about the easiest path in, and how a few unlocked passageways would let anyone walk right in, right up to the Hougyoku, with little trouble." He watched her eyes study him. "We never made a plan to unlock any doors up to that point, Ran, but we retraced the passes that should be unlocked, if someone was going to be allowed to get in."

"Allowed? From outside?"

"Yep. Someone unfamiliar with the compound; not an insider."

She turned to the back of the ledger and pulled a piece of blank paper from it and slid it and a pen to him. Both guardsmen flanking the table watched her actions. "Show me."

"You want the easy access way in?"

She nodded.

"Okay then." Gin took the paper and pen and sketched for a moment, marking the corridors and buildings. "Are you going to visit me soon, Ran?" he asked in a lower tone.

She settled closer to the table, nodding. "When I can."

"Sure would be nice. I miss you." He traced a set of corridors down the map he'd drawn.

"I still miss you, Gin," she said softly. "Even when I knew you betrayed us."

"Not how it happened, Ran. Not really." He made a circle with the pen, tapping the paper. "Right there. Follow the open doors and it puts you right up next to the Hougyoku."

She looked at the ledger, frowning. "That doesn't prove anything. It could all be idle chat with a colleague."

"In and of itself, yep, but those were the same passages that were unlocked when your assault team got there." He frowned. "They're marked on the maps Captain Soi Fon sent her men out to find."

She shook her head. "You marked them? While you were still there?"

"No one knew I had the maps."

"Even the Fourth Espada?"

"Yep, even him. When we spoke of it, he didn't need to see a map of the easiest ways in. He was familiar with the layout of Las Noches. Sure as me. I didn't need any maps, Ran. The maps were supposed to be for Soul Society." He slid the paper back to her, fingers pausing on hers when she took the pen from him.

"I see." She held the pen firmer, flipped through the pages on the ledger. "I can't go anywhere with that until they get back with the maps. If they find them."

"Well, there it is." He watched her read for a silent moment from the ledger, seeing the overhead light play auburn off her hair as she looked down. "Haven't amused yourself anywhere else, have you, Rangiku?"

Her eyes flicked up to his. "I can't believe you're asking me that."

"I'd like to know."

"I need the truth about your recruitment efforts."

He nodded. "You're not answering me."

She closed the ledger. "Did anyone ever try to persuade Vice-Captain Hisagi to aid Aizen in his plans to deceive Soul Society?"

He shook his head slowly. "Why are you starting with him, Ran? Are you answering a different question?"

She crossed her arms on the table, turning the pen in her fingers, her blue eyes resting on him. "Did you or anyone else try to turn Hisagi?"

"Not me. Not ever. He wouldn't have gone; too smart to get caught up in something like that."

"Did Tousen try?"

"I don't know."

"Did Aizen?"

"No. He didn't want him. Aizen would never be able to corrupt Hisagi, and he knew it."

"What about Tousen?"

"Again, Ran, I don't know, but I doubt it. Hisagi would've turned him in quicker than lightning. He was incorruptible." He leaned over the table, estimating her intent expression. "Is that who?"

"No."

"Who then?"

"I don't want anything written down," she said in a lower tone, glancing at the bent head of Juusan. "But the answer is no. Give me a little credit, Gin."

"I know you were angry."

"I still am." She sighed, looking to Kazuko for a moment, and then back to Gin. "They found the Quincy children, just like you said."

His eyes opened wider. "Children?"

"Yes. You didn't know?"

"I was told four pair of breeding ages."

"You never saw them?"

"No. Wasn't my territory."

She frowned, studying him closer. "Then how did you know about them?"

"Aizen was disillusioned with the Arrancars, kept saying he had a better plan, just yapping about how he could get Urahara to help him with it." He nodded, one hand settling closer to hers nearest him. "He said he could start over with the Quincys, but it would take time, and he'd need help from Urahara and the Ishida boy. I didn't know ages, Ran. Just that he had four pair, and he was wiling to trade part of them for Urahara's help."

Matsumoto ran a hand through her hair, closing her eyes momentarily, trying to divide her thoughts, feeling his fingers edge to hers. "They were found where you said they'd be, Gin. Teenage, with two young children." She looked to him, returning a small smile. "That verifies one point you told Captain Soi Fon. It's got to help," she added hushed, knowing the scribes heard.

"Well, good then."

She looked to each of his eyes. "Had you been to Hueco Mundo often?"

He shook his head. "No. It was unplanned to leave the day of Rukia-chan's failed execution."

"You'd never been there before? At all?"

"Never. I knew Aizen was working with the higher Hadou levels somewhere, but I didn't know exactly where. It couldn't be anywhere in Soul Society; someone would have known. You couldn't hide it for long. I figured it was somewhere in the Living World. I didn't know about Hueco Mundo." He nodded slowly. "When we left, then I knew he'd been partnered up with Urahara a bit more closely lately."

"You could've stopped him at Soukyoku Hill."

"Not even close, Ran. He hadn't achieved full control over the Hadou Ninety spells, but he was close. I knew I had nothing to match him."

"You could have stopped him right there, Gin. You didn't do anything about it."

"I did."

She looked down at the ledger, reading for a few moments. "I've seen the reports from Captain Kuchiki. You were attempting to kill Rukia Kuchiki when he got there."

"No, Ran."

"I saw the reports, Gin." She flipped through the ledger, unable to find the entire report from Sixth Division. "Captain Kuchiki arrived just as you drew your sword and gave the Shinsou command. He saw --"

"That command was given for Aizen. I intended to kill Aizen, Rangiku." He saw her flinch at the words, her eyes narrowing on him. She opened her mouth, but no words came out. "I had every intention of killing Aizen, not Rukia-chan."

"How can you say that?" Matsumoto said when she found her voice.

"Aizen was my target; not Rukia-chan. When Byakuya Kuchiki showed up, Aizen turned, and the Captain got it instead. It was never meant for Rukia-chan."

The scribes had both paused in their writing when he said it, but now they resumed, pens scratching faster to catch up.

"Does he know that? Did Aizen know it?" She leaned closer, her hand tensing beneath his fingers.

"I thought he was suspicious that day on the hill when I let Ichigo Kurosaki right up to him when Abarai was holding Rukia-chan." He shook his head. "He never asked me about it. Never brought it up since. I guess he doubted himself more than me."

She shook her head, staring down at the ledger.

"Hey, Ran, don't worry about it. Not your department to judge; just ask, remember?" His grin was back, as casual as if he was discussing far less serious topics.

"I didn't see it. I got there after."

"I know. I remember," he said, nodding. "You put Haineko right up to my throat." He smiled. "Your arms around me, Ran."

Matsumoto felt a blush creep across her cheeks. "I did not."

"No, you didn't, but I prefer to remember it like that."

Her hand inched away from his.

"The flat side of Haineko's blade, Rangiku."

She shook her head.

"Yes, it was. I know the flat side of a sword instead of the edge when I feel it. I thank you for that."

She bit her lip, knowing he was right. "Let's move on."

His smile dimmed. "You sure you want to?"

"Yes."

She opened the ledger and looked to a set of questions, and then to the next page, trying to calm her racing heart as she recalled the conflicting moment on Soukyoku Hill that day. She took her time finding another topic for discussion. She noticed there was nothing outlining Hueco Mundo by name. "Las Noches is huge, obviously not something he created in a few months." she said, relieved to be moving away from the subject of Soukyoku Hill despite the clarification the day needed. "When did Aizen start working on it?"

He shrugged, sighing. "No idea, Ran. A long time ago, I figure. Everything was up and running when I first seen it. You can try to ask Tousen about it, but he seemed just as surprised as I was."

"What about the Arrancars? Were they already there? Were they organized yet?"

"Yep. Oh, yeah. The place was populated with them.

She spent the next hour reviewing and verifying what Soi Fon had covered the first two days, avoiding referring back to the topic of the execution site. She watched every movement Gin made, every nuisance, every shift in his voice and hands. He was telling her the truth. At least, the truth as he had always told her.

It was afternoon when she decided to end the questioning, but she didn't want to leave. She knew she couldn't dismiss anyone in the room for any reason, and so she did what she concluded she had to do.

"I'll visit you tomorrow," she said in a low tone when she'd closed the ledger for the final time.

"I'd like that. Not today?"

She shook her head. "I have to check in with Captain Hitsugaya."

"I see." He nodded, looking to her hands just out of his reach, sighing. "Meeting anyone else, Rangiku?"

She closed her eyes, shaking her head. _He never used to ask her such needless questions,_ she thought. She straightened in the chair, looking to Junana who sat silent at her side, awaiting dictation. Her attention went back to Gin, and her pulse stirred as she saw his eyes settle on her lips.

"We're finished for today," she said, more conscious than usual of saying the words. Gin's eyes rose on hers.

"Until tomorrow, Ran."

Kazuko stepped closer to the table. "Horyo Two, on your feet!"

Matsumoto held Gin's stare until the hood was pulled over his head, and he was taken out of the room by the Kidou Corpsmen and the guardsmen. She made herself look to Juusan at the end of the table. "Thank you, Juusan. You're dismissed."

"With your leave, Vice-Captain Matsumoto-san," the girl said, bowing. She left down the aisle.

Matsumoto watched the short girl leave, and then looked to Junana. "Well," she said, taking a deep breath, consigning herself to the idea that Gin Ichimaru's fate was not much closer to being decided than it was two days ago. "Well, Junana. I have an acquaintance in the Seireitei who's also giving statements. She's human, but very kind. Come with me, and we'll take supper with her at my place."

Junana looked taken aback.

"Well, you have to work with me this afternoon anyway, and you have to eat." Matsumoto collected her paperwork and gave the scribe a smile. "Come on. I'll check in with my captain, and then we'll find Orihime."

* * *

**A/N: _Death to the Traitors! Poll is up._**


	11. Allegiance

There hadn't been time for Matsumoto to speak with Hitsugaya that evening. He was tied up in meetings with the other Gotei 13 captains until late, and she finally stopped waiting at the Tenth Division offices and took Junana to find Orihime. They spent one of the livelier suppers at the vice-captain's quarters in a long time.

The next morning Matsumoto found herself back at the woods, well out of sight from the Division behind her, but easy to find, if one knew where to look.

Here the trees were mature, the brush thick a meter tall above the ground, smelling of moss and black dirt, heavy with moisture, canopied by full treetops. The perfect combination for the silver ferns that grew near the bases of the hardwoods. Already the frilly, leafy plants were sprouting new growth after her brandishing several weeks ago.

She hadn't beaten them all down to nubs the last time like she had at other visits over the course of the last few months. She'd expected to, on her last visit, but she hadn't done it.

The silvery mossy ferns were mere shoots, poking hopefully above the ground, reaching for the elusive sunlight far above. She bent and touched one of the splayed leafs, its feathery gray-white soft, tender, helpless.

Her hand rested on the hilt of her sword, memories of finding the patch of lacey silver foliage with Gin all those years ago, when he'd first made vice-captain of Fifth Division. It had been a momentous occasion for him, and she'd been so proud of him.

"Not going to cut it all low again, are you?" Renji's voice jolted Matsumoto from her pleasant daydreams that had just taken hold in her mind.

She turned, surprised to see him at the edge of small clearing. "Not this time. What are you doing out here?" Her eyes rested on the woods behind him, seeing he was alone.

He shrugged, looking at the short cropped ferns struggling to grow. "There's been talk about the pack of Quincys not being who Ichimaru says they are." He saw her grip the katana, her natural defenses pricking. "Not because of what he said, Rangiku, but he's never seen them. It would draw suspicion."

Her hand eased on her sword when she realized she was still gripping the hilt. "How do you know that? You've been reading the report?"

Renji looked a little guilty, shaking his head. "Not really. Not much." He saw the disbelief slip over her face, a knowing look narrowing her eyes. "Okay, a little. Just what I had to. Captain Kuchiki has been asked to submit a more detailed account of the last day Aizen was on Soukyoku Hill. So have I, but I don't have much to say on it." He scowled at the thought. "I'd already been beaten by then."

"Did Gin interfere with Ichigo Kurosaki stepping in to defend you and Rukia?" Matsumoto almost wished she hadn't asked as soon as she finished speaking, but the words were out.

"No. He didn't do anything at all." He looked around the peaceful clearing, shaking his head. "That's what I wanted to tell you. At the last captains' meeting they decided to send Rukia and me to the Living World to talk Uryuu Ishida into taking a look at the Quincys from Las Noches, to see if he can determine their legitimacy. The Gotei Thirteen decided to send shinigami Ishida is familiar with. I don't think he'll help; it's no secret he despises us all, but maybe he'll come if it's Soul Reapers he knows."

She nodded. "Can't Captain Kurotsuchi determine if they're Quincys?"

Renji nodded, then shook his head. "I'm sure he can, but he was outvoted about undertaking any examination at this point. That might be incentive enough for Ishida to come in."

She nodded, picking her way through the underbrush to where he stood. "He might be persuaded. I hear there are Quincy girls in the group. Maybe that would convince him."

"Yeah. We'll have to mention that."

They followed the overgrown path to the edge of the woods, neither speaking for a long moment. Renji looked guiltily to her, clearing his throat.

"We're supposed to drop by the Kurosaki house while we're in Karakura Town, too, Rangiku," he said.

She nodded slowly, waiting for him to continue. "And?"

"They want a report from Ichigo Kurosaki about the events on Soukyoku Hill. What he saw that day."

She frowned, stopping as they came to the edge of the Division's perimeter.

"I know you're the one questioning him," he said in a low tone as they paused. He saw the flash come to her eyes as she predicted his next words. He continued anyway. "Don't let the past cloud your --"

"I'm just asking the questions, Renji; not making the judgments," she said hastily.

"I know that. Have you thought about what you're doing?"

She threw him a sharp look. "Every moment I'm in there I think about it."

"It would be easy to leave things out, or --"

"There are two scribes taking down every word spoken."

"I know. I saw some of it."

She studied him pointedly, imagining which words he'd seen. "You wouldn't like it if anyone read your words at moments not meant to be made public, Abarai."

"Nope. I wouldn't, but I've been there, and it's not a nice spot," he reminded, leaning closer, his voice dropping. "It's not like you drew your sword on your own _captain_ over an execution."

She nodded, smiling a little. "Maybe you do understand. You recall it was Gin who sent medical attention to you in the jail cell when your own captain, Captain Kuchiki, refused to, even before you drew your sword on him over Rukia, Renji."

He rubbed the back of his neck, looking out over the Tenth Division streets. "Yeah, I remember that, too."

"A lot of mistakes were made."

"I don't regret mine."

"You don't regret making a mistake?"

He shrugged as they joined the nearest street. "I don't think it was a mistake."

She sighed. "I'm just asking the questions."

He nodded. "Any ideas why they're sending Captain Kyouraku to speak with Isshin Kurosaki?"

* * *

Matsumoto stopped by the Tenth Division offices after Renji departed farther into the Seireitei before she continued on to her visit at the detention center in Second Division. She spoke briefly with Hitsugaya, waiting outside on the step when she heard Hinamori's soft voice inside.

They talked for a short while, and Matsumoto made an effort at not listening, trying to stay focused on her next interview with Gin, which she had scheduled for the following day. The timeline Soi Fon had set down before leaving to the Living World hadn't included a specific agenda day-by-day point; just the questions and topics that should be covered during her time with him.

Hitsugaya was off to another captains' meeting -- the fifth in three days -- and Matsumoto barely had time to speak with him at all that morning. He did tell her, cryptically before he left again, that another vote had been taken at the last meeting, and the first executions were postponed until Soi Fon's return, and that Ichimaru's stay was still in force. But that was all it was. The vote to accept his claim as a covert operative for Soul Society was still in question.

She nodded, taking the non-decision as encouraging, if nothing else.

"But watch yourself, Matsumoto," Hitsugaya had said by way of warning. "No one is forgetting Ichimaru's role in all of this." His caustic stare had diminished a little as he said it. "Whatever that role was."

It was the first she'd heard of her captain's position varying over the past few months, and she decided it was encouraging, at the very least.

Matsumoto headed on to Second Division and the detention building where she figured Junana was waiting for her, thoughts straying to Orihime's words from the night before. It had been a casual supper, with the human girl confessing -- before Junana -- that she was glad Soi Fon had been called away and was thankful she could submit her final report without seeing the Second Division captain again.

At which point Junana had gasped, and then nearly giggled, the most expression Matsumoto had seen yet out of the unassuming scribe. Junana had then apologized -- to whom, Matsumoto wasn't sure -- and simply said it was a common reaction to Soi Fon, and one the captain had carefully culled over the years. And that had been the end to the discussion. Talk had turned to the stoic-faced Espada, Orihime's former captor-protector.

"I don't want to see him die," Orihime had said without prompting as they'd finished the meal of o-sumashi and suno-mono, of which Matsumoto noticed the living girl had eaten quite a bit. "He didn't really do anything. I never saw him actually do anything."

Junana hadn't looked up at the words, her dark eyes fastened on the plate of kabocha cakes Matsumoto had just set on the low table before them.

"Well, I guess that's something the Gotei Thirteen would have to consider," Matsumoto had said quickly, before Junana could pose a question. But the scribe hadn't shown any interest in pressing the matter.

"But I don't want that horrible Captain Kurotsuchi-san to do anything to him, either, if they let Ulquiorra-san live," Orihime had said by way of disclaimer.

Matsumoto noticed the girl's pout had fallen away as she offered her a squash cake. "Take more, Orihime."

"Oh, thank you."

"Junana?" Matsumoto had held the plate to the scribe, who looked hesitant, but took a cake after a pause.

"What do you think they'll do, Matsumoto-san? Do you think they'll spare him only to send him to the research laboratories?" Orihime nibbled at her cake. "I think he'd rather be dead than that."

She hadn't known how to answer the girl the night before. She still didn't know what she should have said.

* * *

Now, Matsumoto saw Orihime turn ahead of her down another street as she neared the Second Division gates. _So the Fourth Espada did have a visitor,_ she thought. She wondered if Orihime had been allowed to visit, if indeed that was why she was at the Division. Her report had already been made, and Soi Fon was still absent, her quest for Urahara -- and Yoruichi Shihouin -- still underway in the Living World. Matsumoto could think of no other reason Orihime would spend any time at the Division.

She made her way down the detention halls, to the very interior of the jail, the slanted windows allowing in the redirected light from the quadrangle outside. She didn't look to Aizen's guarded cell as she passed, and heard nothing from it, nor Tousen's, as she continued on. She glanced at the fourth cell to see Ulquiorra standing against the far wall, as she'd seen him before. He looked up quickly, hopefully, as she passed, but seemed disappointed to see it was her.

Matsumoto stopped before the last cell, showing the guard there her paper, but he only nodded, and didn't reach for it.

"You're without your scribe today," he said, but didn't say more as quick, muted steps echoed down the corridor behind Matsumoto.

She turned to see Junana hurrying to catch up to her, the girl's braids in tow behind her, her scribe's pad flopping at her belt. Matsumoto forced a smile onto her face at the appearance of the girl.

Junana made a hasty bow before them, her breath fast. "My apologies, Vice-Captain Matsumoto-san! I'm sorry I'm late."

"It's all right," Matsumoto said, feeling quite the opposite. She wished the girl hadn't shown up at all, but that would probably mean the guard would have to escort her into the cell. _Junana was better,_ she thought, seeing as the girl made no move toward her pad and pen.

The guard unlocked the cell door. "Fifteen minutes, Vice-Captain."

"Is that all?"

"That's it."

Matsumoto decided against any further persuasion. "Can I come back later for another fifteen minutes?"

He grunted. "No."

"Okay."

She stepped into the cell, Junana at her sandal heels. She sensed Gin's warm presence immediately. Even sealed, she knew the fragments of reiatsu pervading him. Or so she thought. She was certain the cuffs sealed his spiritual powers, but she felt something. Maybe it was just him. Maybe it was just her. Whatever it was, it brought back the welcoming warmth she'd always had around him.

He was already looking to the door when she appeared, standing close to the cell bars, his hands wrapped tightly around them. She crossed the short space before the cell, noting that Junana fell back, remaining at the doorway.

She smiled at the familiar grin on his face, standing before the cell bars, watching his eyes fall over her face, her robes, her hair.

"It's good to see you, Ran," he said, his voice loud enough for her to hear, but not to travel far.

"I wish it were elsewhere, Gin."

He nodded. "Me, too." He looked to her hands still at her sides. "How have they treated you since?"

"As expected, for not knowing my loyalties."

He shook his head, eyes resting on her hair, then moving to her face again. "And your Captain?"

"He knows where my loyalty lies." She sighed, putting one hand to his on the bar, fingers closing over his. "I still can't believe you followed Aizen."

"At times, I can't either."

For a long moment she stood at the bars, concentrating on memories rather than the present.

"You're stronger for it, Ran."

She shook her head, "For not having you here with me?"

He shook his head, eyes dropping to her sash, eventually rising to hers. "I want your forgiveness, Rangiku."

Her fingers withdrew, and he moved to capture her hand in his before she could move it. "I'm asking you. Forgive me, Ran."

Her hand tensed in his, the frown on her face leaning toward wounded confusion. "For deceiving me or Soul Society?"

"Both, but mostly you."

"I don't know, Gin." She searched his face, finding only the ambiguity she'd always seen, but accepted. "I don't know you as well as I thought I did. I don't know what you've done, or haven't done."

This time he took half a step from her, his gaze dropping from hers, and not to where it usually went. "Well, there're things you probably don't want to ask about."

His words made a sickening feeling start in her veins. "What are you talking about? Momo?"

"No. She was safe. I'd never hurt her. You know that."

"I'm not sure what I know anymore." She frowned at him. "Who? Hisagi?"

His hand settled encompassing over hers, tightening softly. "Why are you so concerned about him?"

"I'm not. Not in the way you're imagining, Gin."

"Listen, Ran --"

"Who?" Her eyes opened wider. "Izuru?"

He shook his head, sighing. "No. Kira was exactly what I wanted him to be. Compliant, obedient, and loyal to Hinamori. I knew he'd never hurt her, despite what I asked of him. He was..." He saw the confusion seep into her frown.

"Forgiveness? For what, Gin?" Her fingers turned, nails biting into his skin, the edges creasing until red marks appeared beneath them.

He glanced to Junana standing at the doorway, who was looking to the floor, her hands tucked into the opposite sides of her sleeves, her face expressionless. His gaze went back to Matsumoto, wanting to soften her fixed scowl into the beckon that had warmed him so many times.

"How far would you follow your captain, Rangiku?"

She stepped back at the question, her hand clasped in his, a rattle quaking her spine despite his fingers drawing her closer. "As far as I had to," she said after a moment. "A far as I should."

"No farther?"

"There are lines. I wouldn't cross ..." She stopped, words from Renji and Hitsugaya playing through her mind. "There are lines I wouldn't cross."

"Are you sure?"

She nodded slowly, leaning closer to the bars, feeling the warmth emanate from him despite the breach in confidence. "I am a vice-captain _second_, Gin."

"Ah, that I see, Ran." He nodded, his grin appreciative, then settling into something more akin to her soul. "But suppose you weren't. What if you hadn't attained that yet?"

She held his stare levelly, the calm he'd always brought eluding her. "Don't tell me anything I shouldn't know. Not now. Just if I ask..." She pulled her fingers back from his hand, seeing the purple marks left in his skin, but he grabbed her hand tighter.

"Think on it, Ran. Your forgiveness. No one else's. That's all I want."

For a long moment she searched his eyes, nodding, and stiffening against several different conclusions. "Just the truth, Gin. That's all I want from you. Everything else, that's already there."

His eyes frowned into mere lines, but she read them well. "You think you can accept that?"

She nodded. His other hand strained at the cuffs, reaching through the bars, cupping the back of her head, pressing against her scalp beneath her hair, bringing her face to his, her forehead nearly touching his, but not close enough.

"I never meant to hurt you, Ran," he said sotto voce as she stayed near, unmoving.

She nodded, swallowing hard, breathing the same air he did, but not closing the distance between them, familiarity and recent disclosures passing through her.

"Time!" the guard called from the hall.

Junana looked to Matsumoto and Ichimaru, her fingers poised over the notepad at her side.

Gin's hand tightened over Matsumoto's as her hand slipped from his, her face taking the few inches away from his.

"Tomorrow?" he asked. "Or is it Captain Soi Fon again?"

"Me, Gin." She knew he could feel her racing pulse in the back of her neck. She nodded as he released her. "Tomorrow."

* * *

**A/N: _Death to the traitors! Poll is up._**


	12. Degrees of Guilt

"Absolutely not."

Rukia and Renji looked to each other as they stood on the porch of the Ishida household late that morning. The house was in a modest, but well-kept section of Karakura town, close enough to the hospital where Ishida Ryuuken worked.

Uryuu shook his head, adjusting his glasses as he stared back at the two shinigami in what Rukia had decided they were going to where to Karakura Town. They weren't passing for school students; this time she'd opted for clothes that looked like they were right off an Osaka discount rack, looking every bit stylish, she'd told Renji. He hadn't agreed.

"At least take a look," Rukia said, summoning up her most compassionate expression. "They have no one to vouch for them, and --"

"You think I'm crazy? I'm not going back to that place. It was bad enough the first time." But Uryuu didn't shut the door.

"We could just bring you back forcefully," Renji said, looking to where the neighbor from the house next door over were looking over the wooden wall.

Uryuu gave the larger Soul Reaper a sour look. "I'm not going anywhere with you two by force."

Renji sent a glare to the neighbor before he remembered the human man could see him. Then he grinned and waved.

Rukia sighed. "I guess we'll just have to let Twelfth Division decide, Renji."

He looked back to Uryuu, who seemed to be mulling something over in his mind. "There're girls."

Rukia elbowed him in the ribs. "Renji! He's not that easily swayed."

"Quincy girls?" Uryuu asked in disbelief.

Rukia smiled, nodding quickly. "And babies."

Uryuu's expression turned skeptical. "Girls? With babies?"

Rukia groaned at the subtractive value of her last statement. "There are ten in all. Four female, four male, and two baby-age."

Renji cleared his throat. "Inoue Orihime is there, too. She's answering questions for Captain Soi Fon."

He glanced to where the neighbor man was peeking over the fence. After a moment, the man disappeared into his own backyard. Uryuu frowned at Renji for a long moment, and then looked to Rukia's doleful, pouting face. He opened the door wider. "Come on in for a minute."

Rukia flashed Renji an accomplished smile as they went inside.

* * *

Hitsugaya was already at the office the next morning when Matsumoto got there. He didn't look excited to see her, but he wasn't as serious as usual, and she wondered what had tempered his mood. Considering the time he'd been spending with a certain vice-captain, she assumed he'd gotten promising news of some sort.

"Good-morning, Captain," she said cheerily as he looked around the corner of the divider between their offices.

He glanced at the smallish pile of paperwork on her desk. "Matsumoto. I see you've found time for your duties."

"Well, not exactly," she said, her tone not quite teasing, but definitely not grim. "I can take it to my quarters tonight."

"Never mind. It's just a token amount. Just to remind you that you still work here." His eyes shifted to the ledger she carried, and then to the front of the office. "Where's Junana?"

"Oh, I'm sure she's on her way to Second Division. I told her to meet me there later."

"Another interview with Ichimaru?"

She nodded, sifting through the papers. Her eyes rested on one of them, and she pulled it out of the pile to see it better. She studied it, finally realizing what it was.

"You're going to be asked to submit a report on the findings from Aizen's office immediately following his faked death, Matsumoto," Hitsugaya said quietly.

It took a moment for her to tear her eyes away from the paper in her hands. She blinked at him. "The findings...?" Then she nodded in recollection. "The letter from Aizen to Hina -- to Vice-Captain Hinamori?"

He nodded, his typical no-nonsense glower easing slightly. "She's submitting it for consideration at the next captains' meeting."

"Oh." She nodded with more relief she thought she'd feel over the simple letter, a letter that had spurred so many crossed swords. "That might be best."

He sighed, watching her peruse the paper in her hands. "You know what that is?"

She did. She knew very well what it was. Gin had drawn the same map for her only a few days ago when she'd asked him to mark the layout of the unlocked passageways of Las Noches.

"The route we took into the Las Noches compound."

"The paths of least resistance, it turns out," he said, watching her eyes move over the page. "It matches the maps brought back by the Second Division scout party Captain Soi Fon dispatched to Las Noches before she left."

"They found them ... The ones Ichimaru described?"

"They got back last night." He nodded as she looked through the other papers in the pile. "The rest is more paperwork, Matsumoto, but I thought you should know. That much of his story checks out."

She sighed, lowering the paper, looking to him. "Thank you for showing me, Captain."

He nodded. "Word is, Captain Soi Fon is adamant about bringing in Urahara and Shihouin, but she might be back sooner than thought, before she finds them. For the execution."

Matsumoto braced herself against the jolt the word sent through her. She frowned at him. "Execution? Already? But we're not finished --"

"The first execution is being scheduled. It's already been voted on, Matsumoto."

"Oh." She studied him for a long moment.

He scowled, looking to the doorway as his voice dropped slightly. "Captain Soi Fon won't let this go without finding Urahara and Shihouin. We all know that. But no one wants to wait for however long Second Division takes to bring in Urahara. We need to conclude this business with Aizen before it drags out into dissention."

This was news to her. "He has supporters?"

"No." He rose to his full height. "But no one wants anyone to have second thoughts about statements that have been given."

"You don't expect anyone to rescind their reports, do you?" She didn't expect him to answer, not really, but she had to ask.

"No. Not unless there have been unauthorized visits to the detention center." He watched her sharply, waiting for an indication of something, but her expression told him nothing. "Has Momo's name been brought up in your interviews?"

She shook her head, watching the concern lease his usual frown. "Not much. But it is on the outline Captain Soi Fon left for me," she added gently.

He nodded. "Let me know when it does."

"I'll do that, Captain."

* * *

Matsumoto wasn't ready to confront Gin that afternoon. She'd spent most of the preceding night separating her thoughts into segments in her mind, dividing them further into smaller piles, and then trying to prioritize them. Emotions aside -- well, there wasn't much left after that -- but after she'd scraped off the thick sentiments surrounding what he'd told her the day before, she'd been left with the bare facts and she didn't want to look at them.

_Practically told me he was guilty,_ she thought, meandering through the hot, dusty Seireitei streets that she knew wouldn't take her any closer to Second Division. She didn't want to go there. Not yet. Not quite yet.

Guilty of just what, she wasn't sure, but she was quite certain she didn't want to know everything. Not yet. Whatever it was, he had his reasons for not telling her, and while there had been a time it was safer for her not to know, now she wasn't sure. That was, after all, what Captain Soi Fon had asked her to do.

Wasn't it?

She frowned as she found herself outside the perimeter of Ninth Division. It was one of the more unassuming Divisions, without a real wall dividing it from the rest of the streets, only tightly planted barberry hedges chest high, and the wide gate that crossed the entrance never shut, not that she could ever recall.

She saw the small form of a scribe -- this one a male youth -- make his way around a corner of the first building. She sighed, and then startled as a hand rested on her shoulder from behind.

"Haunting my Division in person now instead of through paperwork?" Hisagi said, chuckling at her flinch.

Matsumoto eased a hand from her sword hilt. "That's a good way to add to your scar collection, Shuuhei," she said as he looked into the Division streets.

They watched the scribe disappear out of sight. He sighed, attention on her. "What's all this about covert operation, Rangiku? Does he really think anyone is going to believe it?"

The defensiveness slipped into her tone despite his half-grin. "What have you heard?"

"I can't tell you what goes on at Gotei Thirteen meetings, Vice-Captain."

She put her hands on her hips, looking to him sideways. "You want me to make you talk, Shuuhei?"

He grinned, clearing his throat. "That's not necessary. It doesn't add up."

"We're not finished with the interviews yet."

"What can he possibly say?" He saw a look of warning in her eyes. He shrugged, looking into the Ninth Division streets as the scribe reappeared, spotting him. "What's he said about Tousen?"

"Nothing yet. Tousen has already confessed. I'm sure you know that." She watched the scribe approach them. "There was nothing in Tousen's actions that made you suspect him?"

Hisagi frowned at her. "I'm taking another look at it."

Her voice dropped as she stepped closer. "Did he ever say anything to make you follow him?"

He shook his head. "I had no idea what he was up to." His eyes sharpened on her. "Is that what Ichimaru said?"

She sighed. "No. He said Aizen didn't want you anywhere near a mutiny. Gin said you were incorruptible."

"Oh, yeah?"

She looked to the scribe as he stood near the entrance to Ninth Division. "It's probably in the latest report. I'm sure you'll get a copy soon."

He nodded, eyes narrowing on the waiting scribe. "You know they voted to execute him, don't you?"

Matsumoto's fingers automatically tightened on her katana hilt. Hisagi saw the movement, saw the horror snap to her eyes.

"I was talking about Tousen, Rangiku."

She sent him a wary look. "You should have clarified yourself."

"Yeah. Sorry."

She decided he did look a little apologetic. Not much. "I'll talk with you later, Shuuhei."

* * *

Junana was already waiting outside the interrogation room at Second Division when Matsumoto got there half an hour later. It was the typical set-up, with the Kidou Corp and guardsmen in attendance, Juusan and standing at the door, waiting.

Matsumoto was pleased that Kazuko had taken the initiative, and Ichimaru sat at the table already, waiting for the proceedings to begin, his hands bound before him in the sealed cuffs and block bolted to the table.

Matsumoto held back part of the smile as Gin turned to see her when she was halfway down the aisle way. The Kidou Master behind him pushed his bo against Gin's shoulder blade, but didn't strike him this time.

She rounded the table, looking to Gin as he watched her. Junana and Juusan each took their usual chairs after Matsumoto sat down in hers across from Gin.

"How are you doing, Ran?" he asked casually.

She gave him a small smile. "I'm okay, Gin." She stopped herself from saying anything more of a personal nature, content just to be close to him again, wondering if memories of time with him were going to be enough in the future. "We'll be verifying your use to Soul Society directly before the events at Soukyoku Hill."

He frowned. "Before?"

"I need to establish what your role was in bringing about Rukia Kuchiki's execution."

"I never wanted her execution. Tried to have it stepped around several times, despite what Aizen put up for it."

"Wait a minute. Everything Aizen did up until his departure was to extract the Hougyoku from Rukia on Soukyoku Hill." She heard the scribes' pens busily copying his words onto their pads of paper. "You were there every step of the way, Gin."

"Yep, but I didn't want her dead. I never thought it would get to that." He shook his head. "Captain Kuchiki was willing to let Captain Zaraki execute her even before Aizen got to it, but I stepped in there."

She opened the ledger and looked through it for a moment. "There's nothing here about that. What are you talking about?"

"Well, I have no witnesses, Ran, and I don't for certain know how serious Captain Zaraki was, but he did tell Captain Kuchiki he'd do it. Nothing worse than the actions of a criminal -- even a sister -- dishonoring a distinguished family name," he said, half-quoting the Eleventh Captain. "Captain Zaraki was more than willing to behead her without any further consideration, and Captain Kuchiki seemed to be of the same mind."

"When was all this? I never heard of it."

"No, you wouldn't," he said, shaking his head. "I'm sure Captain Kuchiki has pushed it way out of his mind, especially after he let her be put up on the Hill."

She leaned closer, watching his hands settle over each other across from her. "You stopped this? How?"

"I distracted Captain Zaraki. Got him to rethink his rash offer. He didn't like it, anxious as he was to convince Captain Kuchiki he had the merit to execute the girl, but he decided to postpone the offer, I guess."

She looked to Junana and Juusan as they sat hunched over their tablets. Her attention turned back to Gin. "Do you have any witnesses to this?"

"Nope. Captain Zaraki and I were both without our vice-captains. Just the captains of Sixth and Eleventh were there. And me."

She looked down at the ledger and opened it to another page she had marked the night before. "Captain Soi Fon will have to look into that account in detail. And it will have to be verified by at least one of the other captains."

He shrugged, one finger tapping the table. "I don't really see that happening, but Captain Soi Fon should check into it."

Matsumoto held his faint grin with a warning of a smile. "Don't play at games, Ichimaru."

"Too much on the line for that, Ran."

"But this really happened? With Captain Kuchiki?"

"Yep."

She nodded, looking back down to the ledger, preparing herself for the next questions, and his answers to them. "Did you ever try to recruit me to help you aid Aizen?"

The humor dropped from his grin. "Never."

"Ever try to get me to --"

"No. Nothing, Rangiku. Nothing ever."

She gripped the paper tighter. Not all of the questions she wanted to ask were listed on the ledger. "Did you ever try to mislead me into giving false information to Captain Hitsugaya?"

"No."

"Never?"

"I never attempted to get you to deceive your captain." There was no mocking or humor in his tone or expression now.

She nodded, waiting for the scribes to record his answer. She found the next question on the paper, but her mind was still the previous set of questions. "Shortly before the Ryoka entered Soul Society, you were answering to Captain Yamamoto before the assembly for allowing a breach of the western White Road Gate. If you were loyal to Soul Society, why didn't you stop Ichigo Kurosaki then?"

"I did stop him."

She looked at him carefully as he parsed her words. "You didn't kill him, Gin. Why not?"

"He can't very well help stop the execution if he's dead already." He leaned his arms on the table, holding her stare. "Rukia-chan didn't have much of a chance. Word had come down from the Council of Forty-Six to execute her, and that date kept getting moved up. Captain Kuchiki wanted the noble execution of his sister to restore his family name. Aizen wanted her dead for his own reasons, and by his own method, and he didn't want Abarai or Captain Ukitake anywhere near her. Most of Soul Society wanted her dead. Didn't look very good for her."

She shook her head. "Aizen wanted the Ryoka inside the gates to --"

"Create a disturbance?" He shook his head. "No. Just a bunch of bluster at the end on Soukyoku Hill when he knew it was close to falling apart, Ran. Surprised me when he said it." He shrugged. "He had control over all the other gates. Only Jidanbou was in question."

"Why did you go to the White Road Gate?"

"Because that's where the Ryoka went. I'd have gone to whichever gate Kurosaki and his little friends did."

"Why?"

"Make sure they didn't get killed by the gatekeepers, the ones Aizen had convinced to join him. If I knew Jidanbou was going to let them in, I wouldn't have bothered. After he actually let them in, well," he said, shrugging, "as captain of Third, I couldn't very well just welcome them in. I could have easily killed them. In hindsight, I should've let them on in."

She nodded slowly, pushing her hair from her face as she looked down at the ledger. "You told the Gotei Thirteen you had no excuse for not killing the Ryoka."

He sighed, smiling slightly, watching her hair fold softly beneath her fingers. "I hadn't thought of an excuse yet. I had Captains Kurotsuchi and Zaraki nagging about why I hadn't killed the intruders, and I hadn't thought of a good reason yet."

She studied him for a moment, watching him as he spoke, measuring his words against what she knew -- really knew -- of his mannerisms. It was all there. It was all true, and she knew it. She couldn't prove it, and she was afraid neither could he, but she knew it was true. Her fingers pressed onto the table as she asked the next question.

"Did you slaughter the Council of Forty-Six?"

The query seemed to set him aback. "No."

"Did you do anything to them? Distract them? Lead them into a trap, Gin, or --"

"I had no hand in their murders, Vice-Captain Matsumoto," he said with all seriousness. "Aizen said he'd taken care of the Forty-Six, and that he'd be giving their orders now. I don't know if Tousen helped him out in their slaughter or not, but he didn't seem too surprised when Aizen told us of it."

She nodded, watching the scribes working in their pads of paper. She looked back to him, debating her next words as she watched his eyes move over her face. "What have you done, Gin?" she asked quietly.

For a moment he returned her attention, moving over the table as far as the cuffs allowed. "Not here, Rangiku," he said just loud enough for her to hear. "Don't ask here."

She nodded slowly, hearing the scribes record his hushed words. She asked more softly, "Did you ever try to turn me?"

"No. Never."

She looked to his hands, watching his fingers cross to hers closest to him. She could see the red marks from her fingernails still in his flesh on one. "I'll visit you tomorrow."

"Not today?"

She shook her head. "I have to write up my report."

He sighed, looking to Junana. "Then what good are your little mice if they don't do your paperwork for you, Ran?"

"Don't tease them, Gin."

He watched while Junana wrote down his words. "Ah, well. At least they're quiet things."

She looked to where Kazuko was watching out of the corner of his eye. She slipped her hand beneath Gin's for a moment, smiling as his fingers closed over hers tightly. "I'll see you tomorrow."

He nodded, relinquishing her hand reluctantly when she pulled it from him.

"I'm finished for today, First Officer Kazuko," she said louder, sitting back from the table.

Junana and Juusan flipped their pads closed and stood up when Matsumoto did.

"Horyo Two, on your feet!" Kazuko called, stepping to Ichimaru's side of the table.

"No hood, First Officer. Please," Matsumoto asked as the guardsman prepared to cover the prisoner's head with the black cloth.

Kazuko looked to her for a moment, and then set the hood on the table. "This time, Vice-Captain Matsumoto."

"Thank you, Fist officer."

Gin had grinned at her request, but didn't comment.

* * *

**A/N: _Death to the traitors! Poll is up._**


	13. Slippage

It hadn't taken Uryuu Ishida long to realize he couldn't' tell if he was looking at a fellow Quincy or not. The tall youth named Yura that looked back at him in the containment hall of Eleventh Division could have been anyone -- or everyone -- from his lineage, or not.

Yura stared back at him for a long moment, and then dropped to one knee, head lowered. "Ishida-san! We're honored!"

Behind Yura, the other seven youths immediately fell to one knee. After a moment, the toddler sunk to his hands and knees, forehead crouched over his legs. After a moment he looked to where Yachiru stood with her pouch of treats, smiling at her.

Beside Uryuu, Aibu and Zaraki looked to each other. Behind them stood Rukia and Renji, who Uryuu had insisted-nearly-begged accompany him to the first meeting of prospective Quincys, awaiting his impression. Uryuu looked a little embarrassed as he looked out over the bowed heads. The Quincy question was becoming a sore spot with some of the Division captains, and most wanted it decided, one way or another. Quartered in Eleventh Division had kept their mention out of most meetings, but conclusion was in order.

"Doesn't prove anything," Kurotsuchi said, growling deep in his throat. "A complete genetic workup is in order. I've submitted the paperwork already."

Zaraki gave the captain of the Twelfth Division a long-suffering look. "Don't you have enough genetic material already?"

"Fresh is better."

Uryuu cleared his throat, and the new group of Quincys lifted their heads, looking to him. "Could you all please stand up?"

Yura was the first to approach. "I'm Yura, the leader. We've heard so much about you, Ishida-san. We're honored to meet you finally." He bowed deeply to the human.

Renji looked to Rukia. "There'll be no tolerating him now."

Uryuu threw the red-haired Soul Reaper a tolerant look. "You invited me here, Abarai."

Zaraki put his hands on his hips, taking up the entire doorway. "Now what? Are they Quincys, or just baggage?"

Uryuu's eyes rested on the circle kamon on Yura's jimbei, frowning at the design. He pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose, unwilling to allow the next words. "I can't tell just by looking at them, Captain."

"A test? A test. Yes, a few tests are in order," Kurotsuchi said, nodding, his masked smirk looking out over the lot. "And Uryuu Ishida also."

"Now wait a minute," Uryuu said, shaking his head, taking a step back from the scientist. "No tests. Not a drop of anything! My father works at a hospital, and if anyone should do any testing, it's him."

Aibu nodded eagerly. "He has a point. That would be best. And," he said, his diplomatic lilt returning as he looked up at Zaraki, "it would help mend the rift between shinigami and Quincy."

"It's not a rift for the victors," Zaraki grunted.

"No. Of course not, but think of the magnanimous qualities the offer would show. A good faith gesture."

Uryuu frowned at the Second Division officer. "You can't expect me to take them back with me. My father doesn't even know I'm here."

"Oh, very good," Kurotsuchi agreed. "Then we may test here." He looked out over the youths that had crowded to the wall, except for Yura.

"How much testing do you need done?" Uryuu asked, frowning at Kurotsuchi. "How invasive?"

Kurotsuchi gave a resigned sigh. "Just blood work, Ishida. That would be enough."

"And then?" Uryuu looked to Aibu. "What then?"

"You may take them home with you," the Second Division officer said.

"Uh, oh..." Uryuu looked from Rukia to Renji, but got no help. "I suppose I could deal with that more than leaving them here. I suppose..." He glanced at Kurotsuchi. "Just blood work?"

"Unless they could remain here a little longer. Just until I could sequence their DNA."

Uryuu looked back to the Qunicys near the wall, and then nodded to Yura. "I'll need to speak with my father first."

* * *

Matsumoto had lain awake most of the muggy night before, replaying the interview in her mind. She'd stared at the bamboo ceiling until the dark was hinted by shadows creeping across the woods behind her quarters, and until the shadows turned into the haze of dawn.

She hadn't come to any conclusions, nor had she expected to. By the time she got out of bed for the day, she was tired of thinking about the tangle of messes that had plagued the Seireitei lately.

_I've been neglecting Captain Hitsugaya_, she thought with a twinge of guilt as she dressed that morning, admitting it with more remorse than she usually did. But it wasn't as if he was busy with much else than the impending executions and captains' meetings.

The Arrancars in Karakura Town and Osaka City were nearly under control, and four of the eight from Eleventh Division had already returned. Ichigo Kurosaki had joined Ikkaku Madarame and his three squad members in the fight still waging in Karakura Town, and the reports coming in were all encouraging.

But Matsumoto knew captain had been too long without an adjutant, and she didn't like the idea of abandoning him, even if it was for Society business elsewhere.

Besides, she had questions he could answer. _Not that he would answer, _she thought as she made her way across the Seireitei to Third Division that morning. She wasn't sure Kira would answer them for her, either, but the chances were a little better. And a little sake would help.

"Ah, I see you're about captain duties," she said as she found him sitting on his back porch of his vice-captain's quarters. She crossed her arms, the jug of sake in one hand, and shook her head at his slumped form as he stared unfocused at the dim view of the woods. "You're not going to make a habit of this misery, are you?"

"You, Matsumoto. You're one to talk." He glanced her way and shook his head, sighing despondently as she stood closer. "You're the one causing the grief."

"Me?" She set the jug of sake down beside him and patted his head. "How am I to blame for this morose face?"

He moved her hand when she cupped his chin in her fingers and squeezed a smile from him. "How can you joke? This is serious stuff."

She sat down next to him and set the jug in his reluctant hands. "What stuff?"

"My report. Ugh, you know what I've got to do?"

"How bad can it be?"

He pulled the cork from the jug and looked at the slightly tinted liquid inside. "I'm not sure what I knew, or when, or even if I knew anything at all."

Matsumoto groaned, shaking her head. "You really are confused, aren't you?"

"Everything kept changing, Rangiku. I kept making excuses for myself, and for him. I kept thinking I was slipping into something I couldn't get out of."

"Hey! You started without me," Hisagi said as he rounded the corner of the small house. He looked from Matsumoto to Kira. "Oh, I see how it is. Conducting interviews on the back porches of quarters now, are you, Matsumoto?"

She narrowed her eyes at him. "You're next, Shuuhei."

"Leave me out of it." Hisagi dropped down on the other side of Matsumoto. "What are we not-celebrating this time?"

"Culpability." Kira took a long drink from the jug, then looked at it for a moment. "This is the good stuff."

"Oh, yes." Matsumoto smiled warmly at him. "So, one vote has been cast. How'd you vote, Izuru?"

He swallowed quickly, wiping his mouth with the back of his sleeve. "Are you serious? Gotei Thirteen aren't letting me vote."

She frowned at him. "But you're sitting in on the meetings, aren't you?"

"Yes, some of them."

She looked to Hisagi as Kira passed him the jug.

"I'm not voting, either," he said before she could ask, taking a drink.

She intercepted the jug as he handed it back to Kira. "What good are you two?"

"What do you expect?" Hisagi shrugged as she stuck the sake out to him. "Yeah, sure, we two sit in, but no one asks much of our opinions, and Fifth Division isn't represented at all, Rangiku. We have to sit there and listen to parts of your reports, and some of our own. It's agonizing, seeing it all again."

She sat between them, watching them handing the sake back and forth. "That's it? Ten captains voting. That could be split."

Kira shrugged. "It wasn't for the first vote. Unanimous."

"What'd you expect? They admitted subversion at the highest levels." Hisagi studied Matsumoto for a long moment. "What's he been saying about us? Did he try to manipulate Izuru into helping Aizen and Tousen?"

"Why don't you ask Izuru?"

They both looked to the lighter-haired man as he took a drink from the jug. "I did what my captain told me. Even raised my hand to Momo." A new wave of guilt washed over him. "If he hadn't let me out of the jail cell that day, it would have been different, Rangiku."

"It might have been worse, Izuru. Did you ever think of that?" she asked, stretching her legs out in front of her. She waved off the jug when he offered it to her.

"No? Hmm, that's unlike you," he said, raising the jug to this lips again.

"She's going to see him, that's why," Hisagi said with a nod. "Right, Rangiku?"

She scowled at his smirk. "Why not?" She turned her attention back to Izuru. "Did you ever think it would have been worse if he'd left you in the jail cell?"

The familiar feeble look came back to Kira's face. "Is that what he said?"

She sighed, smoothing her black robes, turning the obi so the detail faced out. "We haven't talked about you yet."

Kira rattled a sigh, taking another drink. "I didn't know what to think anymore."

They fell silent for a few minutes as Matsumoto realized she wasn't going to get any answers out of either of them. She didn't like their situations, and didn't much like her own at moments over the last week, but decided it was better than not being involved at all.

"It could be a tie vote, on the next set of executions," she said finally, hating the sound of the words as they left her lips.

"Well, you know Captain Soi Fon will vote for everyone to be executed," Hisagi opined as Kira passed him the jug. "She already cast her vote before she left with her detachment to Urahara's shop in the Living World."

"Yamamoto-san will vote for execution," Kira said with a nod. "He's a real old guard for the rules and regulations. I don't think he'd have leniency on any traitor."

"But he's only one vote," Matsumoto recalled, not liking how they both immediately thought of the damaging votes. "I don't think Captain Zaraki would have any leniency. Not when he was so eager to put ..." She caught herself before saying anything about what Gin had mentioned about Zaraki and Kuchiki when discussing Rukia.

"What?" Hisagi prompted when she didn't finish.

"It should be in the reports soon, if it hasn't already." She stood up and looked to each of them.

"I know what you're talking about, Rangiku," Kira said lowly. He nodded when she looked to him curiously.

"Were you there? Did you hear it?"

"No. Cap -- Ichimaru told me about it when it happened." He shrugged slowly when she stared at him expectantly.

"Just told you? Nothing more?"

Hisagi shook his head. "He could have told you anything, Izuru."

Kira nodded. "But Captain Zaraki came by the Division offices later that day and had words with Ichimaru. I don't know what was said," he added as Matsumoto watched him hopefully. "It might not mean anything at all."

She sighed. "Will it be in your new report?"

"I've given part of it already." Kira sloshed the last third of sake around in the jug. "I didn't think it meant much at the time, but now," he shrugged, "I'll make sure I'll put it in. I don't know if it'll help."

"Just the truth, Izuru," she said lightly.

"Is that what you're doing, Rangiku?" Hisagi asked, his tone more pointed than he'd meant for it to be. "It would be simple to ask for something other than the truth."

"I've asked him for the truth. That's it," she told him.

"I guess it only really matters what Captain Kuchiki puts in his report," Kira decided. "If he leaves it out, it won't matter if it happened or not."

"It's in my report," she said. "If it's in yours, too, then Captain Soi Fon will have to look into it from Captains Kuchiki and Zaraki."

Hisagi shrugged, settling back on his hands behind him on the porch. "You'd think. But I don't see captain of Second Division doing anything she doesn't want to."

Matsumoto nodded in agreement, watching Kira's face reclaim its troubled, faraway look again. She shook her head, gesturing to him. "Do something with this, will you, Shuuhei?"

He looked to Kira. "Sure thing."

* * *

This time Matsumoto turned to look back out at the Seireitei as she entered the Second Division complex. Usually she didn't see the view down the steep incline, busy speaking with Junana, or buried in her own thoughts of the afternoon, but this time she took a moment to pause.

Heat swells rippled up from the streets and rooftops below, with Fourth and Seventh Divisions closest to Second. She could see most of the white banners raised over each Division's quarters, their numbers and insignia indiscernible at the distance, but she knew which was which. Beneath each banner now flew a second, smaller unadorned black banner, signaling the execution vote. The flag poles of Third, Fifth, and Ninth Divisions had a third banner; a split white banner indicating distress.

She knew Hisagi, Kira, and Hinamori had balked at raising the white streamers, but each had done it.

The hot wind lifted her hair as she watched the banners, hating what they meant. Soul Society in turmoil, even after winning the War. Executions would only add to the tumult.

She knew she hadn't heard much of it herself, even as she approached the Second Division administration building, but she knew it was there. Hitsugaya had been absent much of the week, and his mood varied from grumpy to hints of relief, to downright bitterness.

"Good afternoon, Vice-Captain Matsumoto-san," Junana greeted as Matsumoto reached the last hall to the jail cells.

"Hello, Junana." She looked at the scribe's pouch at her belt. "You've turned in last night's reports to Officer Aibu?"

"Yes, Vice-Captain." For a moment the girl looked like she was going to say more, but she wavered, her steps slowing.

"What is it, Junana?" Matsumoto paused, watching the girl's face.

"I believe..." Junana's usually light voice was even more timid, her dark eyes going to the jailor at Aizen's door inlet as they neared it. "I believe Captain is returning soon, Vice-Captain," she said barely above a whisper.

Matsumoto had stopped walking, turning to the scribe, the words making a flurry of thoughts race through her mind. When she focused, she realized she was staring back at Aizen from his cell down the long inlet hall. He was too far away for her to read his expression.

And she didn't want to read it, anyway. She looked back to Junana as they turned back down the hall to the last cell, not looking at any of the other cells as they passed.

"Thank you, Junana."

The girl nodded as they halted before the guard at Ichimaru's cell. The guard looked them over, nodding, and unlocked the heavy door.

"Fifteen minutes, Vice-Captain."

"Yes, thank you."

She stepped into the cell, her eyes going to the bars and the man behind them automatically. Gin was standing with his hands on the barriers, his grin appreciative when he saw her. She crossed the floor to him, aware that Junana stayed at the door to the hall, as she had at other times.

"Ah, I thought you'd changed your mind, Rangiku," he said when she reached him.

There was no hesitation this time when she put her hand over his on the bars. "Should I be changing it?"

"No, don't tease me here. I need what little time we get without your little mice." He smiled wider, bringing the same from her. "You always smell sweet."

She felt his hand slip over hers, his fingers firm on hers. "What did you do to Kira?"

His smile dropped for a frown. "Hmm, now you're going to interrogate me with our only time, Ran?"

"No. Don't answer that, Gin. But I am going to ask you. I have to, and I really want to know." She saw the grin crook back over his face.

"I didn't do anything to him. Just used him to the advantage of Momo-chan."

Her hand pulled away as he said, but he didn't relinquish his hold.

"Izuru did what a vice-captain was supposed to do; follow orders from their captain, and step in front of any sword drawn on him," he said quietly. "As long as he was there, I wouldn't have to draw my sword. At least, in theory, that's how it's supposed to work. Which is ideal when it's Momo-chan and Captain of Tenth wanting to fight." His hand settled over hers fully. "Now when you stepped in front of Shinsou's attack for Momo-chan, you weren't acting as Vice-Captain Matsumoto, Ran; that was for your friend, not your captain."

Her fingers curled away from his, but he didn't let her remove her hand. "You were going to kill her, Gin."

He shook his head slightly. "Shinsou has been known to fail, or miss. But I didn't want to engage Captain Hitsugaya. Nor you." His other hand slipped through the bars, one finger softly brushing the small mole below her lip. "I didn't want to involve you at all."

Her hand covered his as it rested at the nape of her neck. "You'll tell me all of it tomorrow when I ask?"

A flicker of vacillation passed over his face, his grin lifting at one corner as he nodded. "I'll tell you it all, but only if you ask."

She nodded, feeling his fingers press at the back of her neck, tangling in her hair. "Captain Soi Fon is returning soon. I assume she'll be conducting the interviews then."

He sighed, the grin becoming a frown. "Has she found Urahara yet?"

"I don't think so."

"Ah, she'll be in an ornery mood."

She smiled, her hand drawing down his arm, sliding into the wide sleeve of the gray jimbei a few inches. "You're not to be among the first to be ..." She couldn't say it, not while staring into his pale blue eyes. She could barely even think of the word. "You're not in ..."

"I know. Hey, maybe second, huh?"

Her eyes closed in momentary despair. "Oh, stop it, Gin."

"Would you be so very sad?"

She frowned at him, hurt heavy in her eyes. "How can you ask that?"

He leaned closer. "Because it stays on my mind."

Her fingers tightened on his wrist, anchoring him as close as the bars would let them.

"Time!" the guard called.

Behind her Matsumoto heard Junana move, the rustling of paper. She opened her eyes.

Gin grinned as she looked to him. His hand fell through her hair, pulling one long curl through the bars. "It'll still be you tomorrow, Ran?"

"I think so."

He nodded, fingers trailing to the end of the strawberry-blonde tress. She stepped back, feeling his hand squeeze hers briefly as she withdrew.

"I'll see you tomorrow, Gin."

"Tomorrow."


	14. Spectator

Isshin Kurosaki frowned at the sudden ripple in spiritual pressure, unable to determine its exact qualities, but aware it wasn't like anything he'd detected in years. Many years.

He answered the knock at the front door to his house before either of the twins could get to it, and found himself staring back at one of the last people he ever expected to see on his step. The man was equally surprised -- and disappointed in himself -- to be there. Karin and Yuzu peeked from behind their father as they looked at the man on the porch.

"Kurosaki Isshin."

Isshin nodded, pushing Karin back a foot as her inquisitiveness made her angle around him for a better view of the visitor. "Ishida Ryuuken."

The man's eyes narrowed behind his wire-rimmed glasses, his posture stiff, wary. "What's your son gotten Uryuu messed up in now?"

Isshin couldn't help but smile. _There could be so many answers to that question,_ he thought. "Could you be more specific?"

"You know what I'm talking about." The elder Quincy looked to the two girls staring back at him, and then to their father. "Do you know what's going on, Kurosaki-san?"

Isshin scratched the back of his head, a guarded smile crossing his face. "Do you want the short version, or do you have time for the long version?"

Yuzu busied herself making tea in the Kurosaki kitchen as Karin stood lookout at the edge of the room, dark eyes watching the man with her father at the table in the next room. Something emanated from the visitor that she couldn't pinpoint. He looked unusually unfriendly, appearing to hold back at his words even as he spoke forcefully. And for once, their father hadn't introduced a visitor to the house to the shrine of Masaki.

"I don't like it, Yuzu," she said, watching the two men at the table. "He's of a different sort."

"He looks quiet."

"Then what would he be doing here?" Karin looked to the precisely arranged tray set with a tea pot and two cups her sister had prepared. "At least Ichigo isn't here."

"He is." Yuzu nodded quickly, her face wrinkling when she thought of her brother upstairs in his room picking his nose. "But maybe he won't come down."

Karin rolled her eyes. "That would be a good idea."

Yuzu smiled and carried the tray into the next room. "Oh, Karin, if you see Bostov, let me know. I can't find him anywhere."

"Will do."

Isshin waited for Yuzu to serve the tea before asking his guest as to the nature of his visit. In a rare moment of unquestioned obedience, both girls had vacated the lower level of the house, but he was quite sure they were hunkered on the staircase, eavesdropping.

There was no denying the bad blood between shinigami and Quincy, and the very fact that Ryuuken Ishida had sought him out should have been alarming, or encouraging, but he wasn't sure which yet.

"Surviving Quincys, you say?" Isshin said half an hour later. "Hmm..." He watched the lighter-haired man drink his tea, eyes still on him. "I suppose it could be true."

"Supposedly, it's been verified by one Kurotsuchi-san," Ryuuken said. "Do you know of him?"

Isshin nodded. "Some. What do you think of the possibility?"

"My medical opinion, or my opinion as a Quincy?" Ryuuken asked sharply.

Isshin nodded, shrugging slowly. "I guess that depends on the reason you've come to me with the information."

"If they're genuine Quincy, and if this isn't some sort of shinigami ambush," Ryuuken said thickly, eyes turning more serious behind his glasses, "then I'd say they belong here in Karakura Town. Certainly they should not be in Soul Society. They're still living."

"I agree. So it's not a matter of their legitimacy. What then?"

Ryuuken glanced to the staircase, almost hearing the twins breathing as they loitered out of sight. "I can probably find a ward for them at the hospital on a temporary basis. Housing for a few weeks; longer for the expecting girl, and medical services when she needs them." His voice dropped as he said it, the hardness coming back to his tone. "After that, I can arrange facilities somewhere among acquaintances. But I need validation from another doctor. A colleague with the established credentials to pass the hospital board of directors. Someone who doesn't have to know their background or medical history to help allow me to admit them. A second opinion." He frowned. "Someone like you, doctor."

Isshin smiled. "Is that all? My name on a few forms?"

"No questions asked. No visits; no traps, Kurosaki-san."

"I wouldn't dream of it, doctor."

"Is that your word as a doctor, or a shinigami?"

"As a doctor, Ishida-san." Isshin poured more tea into the Quincy's cup. "Sounds like you've got it all figured out."

For a moment the men stared at each other, the tea cooling in each of their cups.

"I suppose there's more," Isshin said leadingly.

Ryuuken watched his host take a drink of his tea. "I want assurance that no one from Soul Society will interfere with their keep here, that they won't be persecuted, or recaptured at a later date."

"Assurance from a Soul Reaper?"

"Odd as that sounds, yes."

Isshin frowned. "The fact that the Society is even entertaining the idea of returning them to the Living World should be proof of recompense, Ishida-san."

"I understand that. Delivering them to me is for the past," Ryuuken said tightly. "I want a promise for their future."

Isshin nodded, studying the other man carefully. The question of Quincys wasn't one he'd had to think about for many years, and much of their lore had been just that when he was in the Seireitei last. "I'll give you any aid I can as a physician. Tests, treatment, second-signatures on whatever you deem reasonably necessary. You have my word on that."

"And as a shinigami?"

Isshin took a deep breath. "That you're even here is a great step toward restoring --"

"Don't give me that honorable rhetoric about the healing of seething wounds from generations past, Kurosaki-san," Ryuuken said with a bitter edge. "I am not my grandfather."

"Hmm, no, you're not." Isshin nodded. "You have my word, as a physician and a Soul Reaper, that if I hear of any movement from Soul Society toward your new relatives, I'll let you know. That's all I can do. All I can offer, Ishida-san."

"Very well." Ryuuken rose from the table and gave Isshin a solemn look. He bowed slowly and then looked at him again. "I will hold you to that, Kurosaki-san."

Isshin bowed in return. "I reckon you will."

* * *

Hitsugaya moved quickly through the Seireitei streets that afternoon as a light rain was misting, alleviating the humidity one notch at a time. Through his mind echoed the words from the captains' meeting.

_Impossible,_ he told himself for the tenth time. _The letter was supposed to help her,_ _not defeat her chances of clearing her name._ When he reached the Tenth Division headquarters he went directly to Matsumoto's office, surprised to find her there, actually doing paperwork.

"What are you doing?" he demanded, watching her flinch at his outburst.

She looked up at him in surprise. "This is the reaction I get for showing up when I have a good excuse not to be here?"

"I want to know, Matsumoto."

She could see he wasn't in the mood to be amused, but she tried anyway. "My job, Captain. I know I'm behind on my duties, but I'm --"

"Not this. In Second Division? What's going on?"

Her eyes opened wider as his narrowed at her. She'd seldom seen him this worked up over anything. "Interviewing and writing up reports. What happened at the captains' meeting this morning?"

He looked at the papers still in her hands. "Is that one?"

"No, this is Tenth Division --"

"Where's the latest?" He shuffled through the reports on her desk until they were hopelessly rearranged. She frowned at the new mess.

"Captain Hitsugaya," she said gently as he searched in more detail, "I've already turned in the most recent report late last night. The Gotei Thirteen should have a copy." She knew of only one matter that could cloud his green eyes so disturbingly. She decided to set aside propriety and ask. "What happened?"

He abandoned the papers, his balled fists leaning on the table until he was eyelevel with her. "Momo is up on conspiracy charges. I want to know what's been coming out of Ichimaru, Matsumoto. What's he been concocting about Momo?"

Her mouth dropped open for a long moment before she could respond. "Nothing. We haven't even discussed Hinamori yet, Captain."

"At all?'

"No. We start tomorrow on that stage of questions."

For a moment he just stared at her, his scowl a grim line as he considered her words. "Where are the questions?"

"At my quarters."

The simmer in his glare turned inward. "What has he said about her?"

Her eyes dropped to where his clenched fists were still propped on the desk. "The only thing he's said was that he wanted Vice-Captain Kira with him so he wouldn't have to draw on her, Captain. That's all."

"Then why is she up on charges?"

"Who brought the charges?"

"They're looking at everyone very closely, Matsumoto. The question of how Aizen's vice-captain could not have been privy to his actions is drawing attention to Momo, and Vice-Captains Kira and Hisagi."

"Oh," she groaned, shaking her head. "What about the letter?"

"It sounds just as weak now as it did then. No one can understand why Momo would believe it, unless she was involved. It may have done more damage than help." He stood straighter, one hand resting on the baldric crossing his chest. "I think it's just bitterness on someone's part, at letting the subterfuge get as far as it did."

"It can't be serious."

"No one is taking it very seriously, but it has to be looked at, and she's gone through enough with this chaos."

She didn't like to see him so hostile. "Well, if it's just sour grapes, it'll pass. No one suspects her, Captain," she said carefully. "Not really."

"I suppose you're right," he said with a little less force. "No one seconded the motion. No one supported it at all."

"Then you shouldn't worry. She shouldn't worry." She watched his scowl ease up. "Has Hisagi been charged with anything?"

"His name came and went at the meeting two days ago. In your report, Ichimaru claimed Aizen didn't want him. It's believable." He studied her for a long moment.

"What about Kira?"

He shook his head. "There's a stronger case for abetting against him. He's still being examined."

She saw his eyes shift to the paperwork. He began rearranging it into the proper piles, not looking at her. "Am I being considered, Captain?"

He scowled again, tapping the edge of the stack of papers on the table. "No one took it serious, Matsumoto. It was passed around, but no one made much of it. Captain Soi Fon wouldn't be letting you interview him in her absence if she could make any charges stick. It was more of a nominal consideration. No one was completely overlooked, except for Captain Yamamoto. Some names are given more attention now, since the first execution is expected soon."

_It wasn't exactly a dismissal,_ she thought, _but close enough._ "Who else is still in question?"

He shrugged, placing the paperwork in a neat stack on the desk before her. "This information doesn't get past this office, Vice-Captain."

"Of course not, Captain."

"Captain Unohana was considered. Some captains wanted to know how she could be fooled by Aizen's faked death. She examined him thoroughly, and determined his death legitimate. And Captain Komamura, because of his association with Tousen. But he's been cleared, too."

"Oh. Well, that's good."

"The date on the motion was from a few days ago." He frowned. "Before Captain Soi Fon left for the Living World." He looked to her. "I want to see your questions about Momo."

She nodded. "I'll get them now."

* * *

Karin hovered over Yuzu from their second story bedroom window, watching the man in the straw hat and powder blue haori approach the front door. With him was a slight figure, a dark-haired woman with a severe look to her bespectacled eyes.

"This one is weird looking," Karin said, frowning at the new visitors. "Let's get the door before Dad can."

The twins bounded into the hall, past Ichigo's empty bedroom, and down the stairs to arrive at the front door as a knock sounded there. Karin whipped open the door, saw the pair standing there -- his broad, laidback smile and her precise, expectant look -- and shut the door to within a few inches.

"Yes?" Karin said through the crack.

Shunsui Kyouraku leaned down to see her better, tilting his hat back, smiling widely. "Well, hello there, young pup. Is Captain --"

"Captain Kyouraku, this isn't _that_ kind of visit yet," Nanao said from behind him, giving the girls inside a brief smile. She added lowly to Shunsui as he gazed at her, "We're _visiting_."

"Oh. Right." He looked back to Karin as Yuzu peeked over her sister from behind. "Is your daddy home, sweetheart?"

Karin's eyes focused sharply on him. "Don't call me sweetheart." She opened the door wider and then looked behind her as Isshin appeared at the door. "More visitors."

Isshin nodded, looking to the two shinigami on the porch. "Well, well, Captain. It's been a long time."

Shunsui nodded, smiling and bowing. "Indeed it has, Captain. You look well."

Isshin opened the door all the way. "Come in."

"He called you captain..." Karin said. Yuzu nodded.

Isshin and Shunsui traded looks, then both glanced at the girls.

"Captain is a nickname we gave each other at university," Isshin said.

Yuzu looked confused. "You both gave each other the _same_ nickname?"

"How odd," Karin said.

"Well, we weren't very imaginative," Shunsui said, sighing.

Isshin closed the door after his guests had stepped in. "My twin daughters, Karin and Yuzu."

"Charmed," Shunsui said, picking up Yuzu's hand and kissing the back of it. She smiled, blushed, and giggled. He reached for Karin's hand, but she crossed her arms, glaring back at him.

"I don't think she's at the age to appreciate that yet, Captain," Nanao said.

He looked to Yuzu. "But they're twins, Nanao."

"Yes, well, in age only." Isshin raised an eyebrow at the Eighth Division captain. "I suppose we have old times to catch up on?"

Shunsui nodded, returning him a knowledgeable look. "Very old times."

Yuzu grabbed Karin's arm, and tugged her toward the kitchen. "Let's make the tea."

"I don't want to make tea," Karin said as they got to the stove. "What's up with all the visitors today? We don't know any of them, but Dad sure does."

"I think it's nice to have company, Karin."

"Not if we don't know any of them. And not when they look as odd as these do."

Yuzu set the kettle on the stove and turned on the heat. "She seems okay."

"Yeah, well, he's odd enough for both of them. I can't believe he went to university with Dad." Karin looked to where their father was introducing Shunsui and Nanao to the poster on the wall of his beloved wife. "I can't believe Dad went to university."

After the tea was served, Nanao offered to take Karin and Yuzu to the park, which was met with only a little opposition by the dark-haired twin, but Isshin insisted. After they left, Shunsui was left with Isshin at the living room, but he was looking at the Kon-filled figure of Ichigo, who sat awkwardly in the chair across from him.

"Please tell me this is a mod soul, Isshin," Shunsui said with a sigh, slouching to one side in his own chair, his expression sagging at the boy.

Isshin looked to Kon. "Of course he's a mod. This clown isn't my son."

Kon had smiled goofily at the introductions to the visitors, and then remembered to screw on his permanent scowl.

"But he knows?" Shunsui asked as he drank his tea, looking to Kon.

Isshin sighed. "Yes." He looked to Kon. "Why don't you be elsewhere for a while? And not the park."

"Huh? Oh. Okay," Kon said, rising to his feet and making a halting bow. "Bye."

"Nice place you've got here, Kurosaki-an," Shunsui said, nodding at the poster of Masaki.

Isshin nodded and turned to him as Kon shut the door behind him. "Well, this is a surprise of a visit, I must say."

Shunsui nodded. "A long time, Isshin. Not many still left in the Gotei Thirteen that were there when you left, or since the disaster with Kisuke Urahara."

"Oh, that's why you're here." Isshin sighed as he poured them both more tea. "I suppose you know then."

Shunsui gave him a lazy smile. "Well, some have guessed, but Captain Soi Fon has told no one."

"But you know."

Shunsui shrugged. "Juushiro and Retsu suspected it for a long time. 'Why not?' I say. Someone needs to keep an eye on that joker. Smart one, he was."

Isshin nodded, sitting back in the couch, one hand resting along the back of it. "Not as smart as the one that slipped away recently."

"No. Aizen took us all by surprise. Lot of mischief behind those glasses."

"And that brings you here because...?" Isshin waited for the Eighth Division captain to expound.

"Ichimaru is under scrutiny. So are others."

"Oh?"

"Questions have come up about Urahara's involvement. How closely he worked with Aizen." Shunsui shrugged. "Why you haven't brought it to Second Division's attention."

"I don't know what you've been told, Shunsui, but the two men didn't work together that tightly. More of a challenge, to see where the other one was, who was ahead on the research curve. Who led, who followed. The impact on Soul Society was secondary, to Urahara," Isshin said with a slow nod. "In my opinion."

"Which you kept out of your reports to Second Division?" Shunsui lifted an eyebrow.

Isshin smiled, but with a grave hint. "Neglect can be more deadly than outcry."

"That's what you were doing? Protecting him?"

"No. It was more personal than that, Shunsui."

For a long moment the two men drank their tea, absorbed in their own thoughts, listening to the finches chattering outside the window near a nest. Finally Isshin broke the silence.

"Vice-Captain Nanao, is it?"

"Oh, yes." Shunsui smiled at the petit woman's mention. "Very sweet. Adoringly attentive."

"You or her?"

"Oh?" Shunsui sighed. "I suppose she's the sweet one."

"Looks very like a former lieutenant."

"Hmm, much, but Nanao hits harder than my former vice-captain ever did."

"One gone to the Vizards."

An uncharacteristic look of dismay crossed Shunsui's face. He sighed heavily. "Yes, my precious Lisa. I should never have sent her that day."

"Then you understand why I would overlook some of Urahara's actions." Isshin leaned over the table between them, setting his tea cup solidly down on the surface, a startling sound in the quiet room. One of the finches flew off outside the window. There was no wit in his tone. "I lost one family member by merely being a spectator," he said firmly. "I was not about to lose another, not when there was some hope of reversal, even if it meant _remaining_ merely a spectator."

The smile dropped from Shunsui's face. "Reversal? Is that what Urahara is working on?"

"I believe there's a chance. He turned Ichigo before I knew my son was even gone. There is no way I'd forego a chance to bring him back. Undo what happened to him in that pit." He took a deep breath, looking to the other captain with slight entreating. "Tell me, Shunsui, would you want to reverse what happened to Lisa if there was a possibility? Or would you turn over the only person who could -- perhaps -- reach her?"

Shunsui held Isshin's stare for a moment, nodding. "How far? Was he working with Aizen?"

"With him? For him?" Isshin shrugged. "There was so much ambiguity with Urahara. By furthering his own work, he furthered Aizen also. How much was deliberate, I don't know. But I can tell you, Captain, as a father, I kept the door to Urahara open, for my son's sake."

"Well," Shunsui said with a sigh, "that's a clear noncommittal answer. Oh. I have a report for your son to complete." He waved a dismissive hand, smiling back at his host.

"Paperwork? Ichigo will like that. Make him feel like a full-fledged Soul Reaper."

"Right. Just a few things to be cleared up about Soukyoku Hill. As for you, Isshin, if you don't know more than was put in your reports," he said carefully, "then you don't know. If Urahara aided Aizen without your knowledge, I suppose you're not at fault." He shrugged. "That's how I see it, Kurosaki."

Isshin poured him more tea before settling back in the couch. "Now, what's all this about lost Quincys?"

Shunsui sighed deeply. "Ah ... Oi, have you got anything besides tea in this place?"

* * *

**A/N: _Death to the traitors! Poll is up._**


	15. Soft Delusion

Matsumoto knew something had changed as soon as she got onto the streets of the Seireitei the next morning. There was a distinct hurriedness to everyone's step in the Tenth Division section, but no one was talking. No one offered her any details, and no one seemed to know what the rush was about. All she got was a quick '_Good morning, Vice-Captain Matsumoto-san'_ from everyone she saw, and then they would hurry away.

"Captain Hitsugaya?" she called as she stepped into the Division offices half an hour later, knowing he wasn't there even before she found his office. Nothing. Not a trace of his reiatsu anywhere. His desk was the jumble of paperwork as they'd left it the night before after working late, reviewing her questions for Ichimaru for that day's interview.

She sighed, and then checked her own desk. There was no note from Hitsugaya; not even a small stack of paperwork. She headed to Second Division.

As soon as she topped the hill to the Division, Matsumoto knew the reason for the unsettled atmosphere of the streets that warm morning. Below the white banner heralding Second Division on the flag pole was the black banner signifying the execution vote. From the black banner's point was now attached a red streamer.

The first execution was now within forty-eight hours.

A sick feeling pulled at Matsumoto, even though she knew Gin was not among those to be felled by the first blade. Seeing the embellished banner galvanized the gravity of his ordeal. She clutched the ledger tighter and made her way to the Second Division administration building with new determination.

* * *

She took the usual corridors through the surveillance headquarters until she was outside the interrogation room, slightly surprised to find the room was already occupied. She sat at the bench in the hall, listening futilely to the room behind her from which no sounds drifted. She'd only been there a few moments when Junana rushed into the hall from where Matsumoto had just come, slightly breathless, her scribe's pad in her hand.

She bowed quickly to Matsumoto. "Good morning, Vice-Captain Matsumoto-san," she said as she caught her breath. "I'm sorry I'm late. We had a meeting."

As she spoke, Juusan entered the hall and bowed also.

"Good morning, Vice-Captain," the second scribe said.

Junana glanced at Soi Fon's subordinate, and then back to Matsumoto, her face still blank.

"Good morning, Junana, Juusan." Matsumoto looked at her scribe for a moment, watching the girl fidget a bit.

The door to the interrogation room opened then and they looked to it. Out stepped four guardsmen, with Ulquiorra in their midst, bound and hooded. The men turned down the opposite end of the hall and continued to the corner, where they disappeared out of sight. Mayuri Kurotsuchi exited the interrogation room, a stack of folders in his hand and another scribe at his side.

"Vice-Captain Matsumoto," he said with a nod in her direction.

"Captain Kurotsuchi-san," she said, bowing with the other two scribes.

"I believe they're bringing your prisoner now. The room is yours."

"Thank you, Captain." Matsumoto watched the Twelfth Division captain and his scribe as they headed back down the hall to the interior of the building. She looked into the room, half expecting to see Orihime Inoue, but the room was empty. From down the opposite side of the hall came footsteps, and a moment later she saw the four Kidou Corpsmen and two guardsmen approach with Gin between them, bound.

Hooded, she realized.

"We'll be ready for you shortly, Vice-Captain Matsumoto," First Officer Kazuko said as they paused before her.

"Thank you," she said, nodding slightly as the rest of the men went into the room. Gin turned in her direction as they passed, and she felt a longing to beg him to tell her something, anything, that would exonerate him. And Hinamori. Instead she remained silent.

She watched him be led into the room, the door shutting behind the men. She had no such hope, and she wasn't sure the truth would be enough to save him.

_At least no one in the Gotei 13 was seriously considering Hinamori as a traitor,_ she thought. She couldn't see how they could. The four Kidou Corps and guardsman were already in place as First Officer Kazuko escorted her into the room

She settled at the table across from Ichimaru a few moments later as Juusan and Junana took their seats. She noticed that Junana hesitated for a second, pausing to look at Gin for a moment, and then to Matsumoto before taking her chair that faced backwards near Matsumoto's at her side of the table. She looked to the scribe, puzzled at the girl's pause, but said nothing.

"Good to see you again, Rangiku," Gin said, grinning at her despite the stocks bolting his wrists to the table. "I hear they're waving the red with the black now."

"The first is scheduled." She smiled as best she could at his grin, wishing there was more optimism behind it. Her fingers tightened on the ledger before her. She wanted to crawl behind that smirk and see what was going on in his mind, see what he was hiding, wondering if she honestly wanted all of the truth, or just enough to back his life off the line.

The faint dark beneath his eyes gave away what his smile didn't, and she knew the wait and speculation were starting to take their toll on him. It was taking its toll on her, she knew.

She opened the ledger and looked to the first set of questions, the ones that she'd examined with Hitsugaya the night before. They hadn't written anything down on the paper, nothing concrete, but she knew what her captain wanted her to ask.

"What's got you bothered, Ran?" he asked, leaning over the table. A thin frown came to his face as he watched her troubled eyes move over the page.

"Aside from the obvious reason we're here?" She sighed, shaking her head. "There's a lot worrying me, Gin."

His hand closed over hers, barely within reach, easing her fingers loose from the ledger. For a moment she studied his hold on her hand, seeing the small, fading half moon red marks from her fingernails on his hand, her thoughts flitting to other moments in their past together.

She closed her eyes momentarily as both scribes copied down her words. She pulled her hand from his, and looked at the questions on the ledger, then to him. "What did you do to Izuru?"

Gin frowned more intently, sighing. "Yeah, Kira. He was the one Aizen wanted initially, after me, as his vice-captain. Of the three, Izuru was the most malleable. Abarai was out of the question."

"But he chose Hinamori after you as his second."

"Yep, he did, but that was because Momo-chan offered other more yielding qualities, ones that Izuru didn't have, if you know what I mean." He shook his head at her. "Not those types, Ran; but she had all-out adoration. Izuru had his stopping place. That's why I wanted him for vice-captain. He had a quitting place. Momo-chan didn't."

Matsumoto didn't like what she heard. She knew what he was talking about, even if it wasn't something she could convey in a report, and she knew it wasn't something Soi Fon was likely to understand or attempt to try comprehending.

She watched his hands fold before him, near enough for her to touch again, but she didn't reach for them. "You never asked him to aid you in betraying Soul Society?"

The frown reached his eyes now, his lips twisting into scowl. "I gave him orders that kept certain individuals away from Aizen at pivotal times during the mutiny, but he didn't exactly know what was going on."

"How _exactly_ are you talking about?"

"How exactly do you need to know?"

Matsumoto fingers closed on the ledger side, her misgivings raising a notch. "What did you do to him those last few days in Soul Society, Gin? He'd changed. He was uncertain about --"

"He was always uncertain, from the day I met him." He shrugged. "That was his nature. Part of what made him appeal to Aizen. His self-doubt."

She watched him tell her nothing. She crossed her arms and leaned over the ledger, watching his attention drop, the grin creep to his lips again. "Gin," she said in a lower tone, letting the lilt lend a softness to it, "I want to know what you did to Izuru."

He looked to her eyes. "Fire away, Ran."

"Why did you let him out of jail?"

"Well, it's not like he was going to get himself out. I knew Momo-chan would move hell itself to get her hands on Hitsugaya -- or whoever she thought was responsible for killing Aizen. Abarai would find his way out; but Izuru, no, he'd stay in there and rot until someone let him out, so I did." A slight smile crossed his face. "As long as Vice-Captain Kira was with me, I wouldn't have to cross a sword with anyone. I wasn't interested in fighting Momo-chan or you."

"What about Captain Hitsugaya?"

Gin glanced to each of the scribes, and then back to her. "Neither you nor Izuru would have let Momo-chan and Hitsugaya draw on each other."

Of all his games, this was the one that bothered Matsumoto the most; answering questions he wished she had asked instead of the ones she'd actually asked. "That's not what I asked you."

He nodded, one finger tapping the table as he looked to Junana sitting beside Matsumoto. "I made Kira step down from the fight with Captain Hitsugaya at Third Division because I knew he wasn't strong enough. He would've gotten killed fighting your captain. Frozen solid, if he was lucky. I always wanted to have a bout with your captain anyway, Ran," he said after a pause. He looked to Juusan as she wrote. "You don't have to write that part down. You can cross that out."

Matsumoto sighed. "Gin..."

"Well, it's defeating to hear it aloud. Weak."

She shook her head. "Why not let Izuru take that fight? He might have surprised you."

"And been near-dead doing it. He was a lot to topple, Captain Hitsugaya was, and I knew Izuru didn't have it in him to do it. Besides, Hitsugaya didn't want to fight him. He wanted me." He frowned at her. "He's a lethal boy, that captain of yours, when he's got a mind to be. I was glad to see you step in that night, Ran."

She raised an eyebrow. "You seemed serious enough to me about the fight when I did get there."

"I had to be. Hitsugaya wasn't letting up." His tone lightened at the memory. "I didn't have to walk away that night, even after you stepped in front of Momo-chan. I could've killed them both. But I didn't."

"And me."

"Never you."

"Are you sure about that?" It wasn't a question on the list, but Matsumoto wanted the answer.

"Never you, Rangiku," he said steadily, nodding.

Her eyes dropped to the ledger as the scribes busily wrote on their pads of paper. She looked back to him. "When Captain Hitsugaya and I got to the Council of Forty-Six, Vice-Captain Kira was already there. Did you let him in?"

He nodded slowly.

"Say it," she told him as Kazuko looked their way.

Gin looked at her for a long moment, his reluctance obvious. "I let Kira into the Council Assembly Hall. I told him to detain you and Captain Hitsugaya while I found Momo-chan for Aizen. Turned out, she was right along with you."

"You wanted Izuru to kill me?" she said, the words lending a chill to her mind.

"No, no. Never that. I told him to detain you and your captain. It was Kira's idea to use the force he did." He frowned at her, hands folding tighter. "Kira's decision to use Wabisuke was poor judgment on his part, and if I'd had time I would've reprimanded him for it. As it was, Wabisuke is a gradual zanpaku-tô, and it gave him time to think about what he was doing, unlike many zanpaku-tô."

"You thought Kira could've stopped Captain Hitsugaya and me?"

"No. Not Captain Hitsugaya. Just you." He smiled sadly. "But I thought it would slow down your captain, too."

"How much did you tell Kira, Gin?"

"Nothing. I told him what to do, and he did it."

"Without question?"

"Ah, he had a questioning look on his face most of the time, but he didn't question. I could see he wanted to, but by then he was confused, and raising a sword to Momo-chan had drained what little certainty he had." He shook his head. "Kira was more of a threat to himself than anyone else, Ran."

She searched his face for a moment, letting what he'd said sift through and among the doubts and hopes in her mind, where the words settled with all the other unanswered questions. She looked to the next question on the ledger, a statement straight from Kira's own report. "Did you tell Izuru Kira that you wouldn't hurt Momo Hinamori?"

He nodded slowly. "Yep. I told him that. And I didn't hurt her."

A hardness came to Matsumoto's tone. "You led her to Aizen, and he nearly killed her."

"It wasn't supposed to happen that way."

"You wanted Captain Hitsugaya and me detained by Kira so Hinamori could be murdered by Aizen, Gin."

"No. I wanted you and your captain detained by Kira so you wouldn't interfere and get you all killed," he corrected, watching the flash come to her eyes. "Aizen wanted to speak with Momo-chan alone, and if you or Captain Hitsugaya showed up, well, Aizen would get nervous and try out one of the newly acquired Kidou spells he was tampering with."

She frowned at him, her fingers pressing into the ledger page. "You took her there to be killed. How could you trap her like that?"

He sat back in the chair for a moment, shaking his head, holding her stare. "No. He wanted to take her with us."

"Vice-Captain Hinamori would never go along with --"

"You don't think so, Matsumoto?" His tone had taken a sharp twist to it, his grin crooking at one corner. "Hinamori was exactly what Aizen wanted in a lieutenant. Obedient. Mesmerized by his every word, his every beckon. He took years grooming her to follow him without ever questioning him. He couldn't have done that with a man. No offence to Momo-chan, Rangiku, but he had a hold over her he'd never have over a man. It wasn't the worship of power she had for him. It was the adulation for him as a man."

"You can't be serious."

"No, not in an intimate manner, Vice-Captain," he clarified, leaning on the table again. "He cultivated her visions of what an ideal captain and man would be. He remembered her birthday and brought her favorite flowers. He knew when she was tired, and considered that when he asked her to do something. He made sure to compliment her slightest achievements, and overlook or excuse her failures.

"And there weren't many failures, because she worked so hard for him, would've gone to any lengths to please him. Even turn a sword on Captain Hitsugaya. That was her ultimate test," he said, nodding, sighing. "That was Aizen's final achievement in manipulating Hinamori. He knew it. That's why he didn't take her with us, I think. That's why he tried to kill her at the Seijoutou Kyorin."

Matsumoto glared back at him. "You knew it and you took her there to be slaughtered!"

"No, I --"

"Yes! You led her there and Aizen tried to kill her. He thought he had killed her."

"He was supposed to ask her to go with him, or make her go by force. He'd spent so many years influencing everything she did, he didn't want to leave his most successful achievement behind," he insisted, frowning as her hand closed in a fist.

"Then why didn't he take her?"

He shook his head. "I guess he rethought the option by the time we got there. I couldn't understand why he attacked her. Shocked me," he said, frowning at her. "Maybe he didn't think she'd follow him, not once he revealed himself as the man he really was. Maybe she wouldn't have accepted him, and he knew it. He couldn't maintain the image he'd created for her. I know you don't care to hear it, but it took something out of him."

Matsumoto's hand opened and her fingers closed over the ledger, threatening to tear a page out, or slap him again. "You idiot. How dare you sympathize with him over trying to kill her!"

"I'm not. I'm only saying it did affect him. Not that he cared, Rangiku," he added quickly as she glowered at him. "Not that he cared about her. But all of his work was gone. His devotee was gone." He shook his head. "No one else adored him the same way Momo-chan did. No one ever would. Not the Arrancars he was raising up, not the Espada that constantly challenged him, not Tousen, and not me."

She took a moment to deliberate over what he'd told her, hearing the scribes scratching furiously on their papers. "What about the letter? How much of that was your work?"

"None. Aizen wanted to appeal to Momo-chan as a man to a woman; not a captain to his vice-captain. He thought it was the only way she would raise a sword against Tôshirô Hitsugaya." He decided her tempter flare had subsided, and leaned his elbows on the table again. "She had no stopping point, Ran. She couldn't say no to him. Kira, he had a backstop. But not Momo-chan. Not when it came to Aizen."

She sat back from the table for a moment, watching him as he spoke. She nodded, not liking the crossings their paths had taken lately. At least in Soul Society Academy they had had the same ambitions, their futures embedded together, as their pasts had been. Or so it seemed. At what point had his path strayed from hers? How early on had Aizen gotten the stranglehold on so many?

"I don't like your silence, Ran," he said, frowning, nodding knowingly at her rapt attention on him. "What's on your mind?"

"I think you know, Gin." She looked down at the ledger, the words becoming a blur as her thoughts focused inward as she settled back at the table.

"No. Tell me."

She shook her head.

He leaned closer to her, a movement that brought Kazuko half a step to the table. She watched him cover her hand with his fingertips, barely within reach of his bonds.

"Rangiku, what're you thinking?"

Her eyes dropped to his lips, wondering again at the lies he'd told her, even for her own benefit. She looked back to his eyes. "I asked you for the truth."

"I gave it to you."

She nodded slowly, her present thoughts not allowing her to continue. "First Officer Kazuko, we're done here."

Gin's fingers closed over hers. "Ran..."

"Horyo Two, on your feet!" Kazuko hauled Ichimaru out of his chair.

Matsumoto looked up as the hood was pulled over his head. The scribes stood from their chairs. The Kidou Corps changed position to intercept the prisoner as the guardsmen turned Ichimaru down the aisle way.

"Hold," Matsumoto said as she stood.

"Halt!" Kazuko commanded. The seven men paused as Matsumoto made her way to where Ichimaru stood among them.

She reached up and removed the hood from his head, searching his face with more intent than she had since the interviews began.

"Is that what you did to me, Gin?"

His eyes dropped over her, shaking his head. "No. Never."

She felt the weakness begin in her knees, her hand threatening to tremble. "You know what I'm talking about."

"Yep, I know it, Rangiku."

She studied him for a long moment, conscious that the men around him were watching without looking at her, dissecting her vulnerability to their prisoner. Her fingers tightened on the hood.

"Take him back," she finally said.

"Horyo Two to his cell!" Kazuko called.

Matsumoto let them move past her, not watching him leave the room, looking down at the hood in her hands. When she looked up it was to see the two scribes at the end of the aisle way, watching her in the empty room. She looked at the ledger in Junana's hand.

She stood straighter and nodded to Juusan. "You're dismissed."

"Thank you, Vice-Captain Matsumoto-san," Soi Fon's scribe said, bowing and taking her leave of the room.

Matsumoto looked to Junana, who watched the other scribe as she departed. She looked to the lieutenant, and then stepped closer, her voice barely above a whisper.

"Captain Soi Fon is returning tonight," she said softly, her head tilted just enough for Matsumoto to hear. "She'll be resuming interviews tomorrow, Vice-Captain Matsumoto-san." Her dark eyes went to the doorway. "She'll be calling a conference with you tomorrow, and there will be no more visitations allowed you to the detention center."

Matsumoto frowned at her words, considering their impact. She looked down at the hood, and then nodded. "I see. We'll finish our reports later, Junana. Come on."

* * *

**A/N: _Death to the traitors! Poll is up._**


	16. First Blade

Matsumoto and Junana didn't go straight to the detention center. Instead the lieutenant had them circle back through the Seireitei streets just outside Second Division, purposeless, with Matsumoto wanting only to put a little space and time between her and the man she'd spent most of her life with before seeing him again.

"A report came in from the Ryoka boy," Junana said in a quiet tone as she and Matsumoto passed the gates to Second Division fifteen minutes later.

Matsumoto looked to her. "Oh? When?"

"Early this morning. Captain hasn't returned yet, so no one has seen it." Junana's voice inched louder. "Kuchiki-san submitted her report also."

"Rukia?"

"Yes, Vice-Captain. I believe Vice-Captain Abarai-san has offered another report, too."

Matsumoto studied the scribe, wondering what else she was privy to. "Anyone else?"

Junana shook her head. "Captain Soi Fon is to return in a few hours."

Matsumoto stopped them before the gates of the Second Division again, deciding enough time had passed that she wouldn't appear as desperate or pitiable as she felt inside. She wasn't sure what she was going to say that she hadn't asked in those last few moments in the interrogation room, but she wanted a more thorough answer than Gin had given her.

"We'll go in now."

* * *

There wasn't as much light coming through the slanted windows in the jail hall now as late day settled over Soul Society. The hall was cooler, an eerie chill lingering in the corners of the cells as Matsumoto and Junana passed.

Matsumoto didn't look at Aizen or Tousen in their cells sunk back in the inlets as she passed them, but she could feel their attention on her. _If there was one thing that hadn't changed about the former captain of Fifth Division,_ she thought, _it was his ability to command attention with a mere glance._ _Not in a domineering manner,_ she decided, but because of who he had been, and the decades he'd spent observing, always in the background, unassuming and kindly.

Matsumoto shuddered as she passed down the hall to the last cell. _No wonder Momo had followed him willingly, without a second thought, obediently_. Non-threatening. He looked more like the Sousuke Aizen they had all trusted now that he was imprisoned, with his hair unkempt, his clothes the drab prisoner gray, without the air of superiority he'd claimed over the last few months.

She shoved thoughts of Aizen out of her mind and stopped before the large guard at Ichimaru's cell.

"I'd like to see Horyo Two, Guardsman Kibune," she told him.

He nodded and unlocked the door to the cell. "Fifteen minutes, Vice-Captain."

She nodded and went in, followed by Junana. The scribe remained at the door as Matsumoto approached the bars. Gin looked surprised to see her, a grin crossing his face as he met her at the bars.

She stood close, but didn't touch the bars as his hands closed around them. He knew the look on her face.

"You're upset with me."

Her blue eyes narrowed on him. "I'm upset with you _and_ me. All that stuff you said this afternoon about Aizen and Momo -- you did the same things to me, Gin."

"No. Never. I meant --"

"But you did." She stepped closer to him, her frown intensifying. "Caring for me, flowers, little gifts, remembering my birthday." Now her hand gripped the bar near his face. "You _gave_ me my birthday. All those other things were just what Aizen did to Momo."

"Listen, Rangiku, I did those things because I wanted to, and because you liked it, not for the benefit of some deviant plan in the future." His scowl matched the hurt expression on her face. "I wasn't going to tell you that part of it today because I knew you'd think on it that way, but you asked, and I answered. I told you I would answer any question you put to me."

"But all the things he did --"

"My intentions weren't his." His hand moved up to hers on the bar. "I knew you liked the blue flowers near the well outside Rukongai best because I was there when you said it, not because I asked someone else so I could deceive you later. I watched you grow up, Ran, because we were together."

"You still let me believe I could trust you." She didn't move her hand when his hand covered it gently on the bar.

"If you knew, at any point, then you'd be held accountable. Did you ever think of that?" His voice was lower, softer, as she remembered it from other times, at moments when she'd had doubts about her abilities while in the Academy, when she had reservations at accepting the vice-captain position for Tenth Division. "Some things are better not knowing all at once."

She nodded, sighing and watching his eyes that appeared light blue in the poor light. "I'm still mad at you, Gin."

He grinned. "Well, you can be mad. You should be."

She managed a small smile, but it dropped immediately. "Captain Soi Fon returns tonight."

"Oh." He nodded. "Well, that can't be good."

"I won't be able to see you again."

His hand tightened over hers at the words, eyes focusing on her lips as she began to speak, but was drowned out by sounds from outside the hall.

"Captain on the floor!" Marechiyo Omaeda's loud voice boomed out.

At the door Junana stood at attention at the announcement. Matsumoto turned to look at the open doorway.

"Aizen Sousuke," Soi Fon's crisp tone echoed through the hall as Matsumoto looked back to Gin behind the bars. "You have been found guilty by admission and unanimous vote to the charges of high treason of Level Four to Soul Society on eight counts, and on forty-six counts of murder. You are to be executed in the Second Division West Courtyard tomorrow at noon. Witnesses?"

"As witnessed," Byakuya Kuchiki's voice called from the hall.

"Witnessed," Juushiro Ukitake and Kurotsuchi said in unison.

"Sounds like the Captain is back now," Gin said.

Matsumoto couldn't keep the fear from her eyes as she looked to the man behind the bars now. "Is there anything you can say to help spare you, Gin?"

"She hasn't named me yet, Ran."

"Don't fool with me now."

He sighed. "Nothing's coming to mind."

"Tousen Kaname," Soi Fon said from the hall, her tone ringing off the walls, "you've been found guilty by admission and unanimous vote to charges of high treason of Level Four to Soul Society on six counts. You are to be executed in the West Courtyard tomorrow at noon. Witnesses?"

"Witnessed," Zaraki, Hitsugaya, and Sajin Komamura said together.

Matsumoto looked up at her captain's voice, her breath catching as she watched a line of a grin cross Gin's face. "Don't you dare smile."

They waited for a moment, a long agonizing moment, as footsteps were heard in the hall. Junana's head was still bowed slightly, but Matsumoto saw the girl's eyes slide to one side, peeking out the doorway. From down the hall a door echoed back as it closed. Junana looked to them and nodded.

But then Kibune stepped in and glanced at them. "Vice-Captain Matsumoto, I must ask you to leave now."

"Another moment, please?" she requested, but the large guard was already shaking his head.

"Now, Vice-Captain."

Under the Second Division jailor's attention Matsumoto nodded, her eyes going to Gin for a brief moment. She felt the world -- any number of worlds -- crumbling away suddenly, even as his hand still clamped around hers on the bar. Her other hand crossed through, slipping beneath the white hair at his temple, longer than she remembered it, drawing his face closer to hers, pulling his head down as she tilted hers up. His lips touched hers only briefly, barely a graze of a kiss, her fingers still embedded in his hair as he lingered near, his other hand soft on her cheek.

He said it lowly, as he always did, words meant only for her ears, the few words that drifted into her soul, blooming warm over her heart. She nodded, as she always did in response to the question he posed, and then pulled herself away from the bars.

* * *

The next morning saw the departure of the Quincys back to the Living World, accompanied by Uryuu Ishida, their tests with Captain Kurotsuchi having been accomplished. This time the youths and small children were more acclimated to the sunlight, but in no way ready for the changes the new world would present to them.

The general stir among the Seireitei streets was mixed, but most shinigami were in favor of the verdicts denouncing the two traitors that were to be executed at noon that day. After the long months that had tested and tempted the bonds of loyalty, rank, and friendship, the first of penalties was to be meted out.

Matsumoto was not ready to be back in Soi Fon's presence early that morning, but she was there in the Second Division hall, outside the interrogation room, attempting to keep her senses from scattering. Or from bare-handedly strangling the smaller woman. Junana was nowhere to be seen.

Soi Fon shuffled through the stack of papers inside her ledger as they stood in the hall, her dark eyes resting on a few of the notes Matsumoto had made during her absence.

"Your report looks to be thorough, Vice-Captain," Soi Fon said, nodding. "I would have liked to have seen more questions put forth about Urahara's involvement."

"I apologize, Captain," the lieutenant said, watching the shorter woman.

"There's not much here about Kurosaki."

"I thought the subject beyond my authority, as I'm not a member of Second Division." Matsumoto held Soi Fon's sharp stare. "It being a covert operation that Kurosaki-san is undertaking."

Soi Fon raised her gaze to level on Matsumoto's face. "What has been your impression of Ichimaru's statements these last few days?"

"It's my opinion that he's answering truthfully, Captain."

"Your opinion as his friend, classmate, or companion?"

Matsumoto wanted to push the words back down her superior's throat. Instead she shook her head. "None."

The shorter woman looked to the closed door of the room. "You'll be sitting in for today's summarization, but only for observation. Your chair is by the door. You'll not be permitted to speak."

"I understand."

Soi Fon nodded. "Come with me now."

Matsumoto followed the Second Division captain into the room and took her seat at the front of the room, as she had on the first day she'd been there. Ichimaru was already in the chair before the table at the back of the room, farther away from it as he'd been on the first few days that Soi Fon had interviewed him. Gone was the second scribe chair at the table, leaving only two at one side. Juusan took the chair beside Soi Fon, her scribe's pad before her on the table.

Matsumoto looked to Ichimaru's hands bound behind him in the chair, as before, catching the half turn of his head as he glanced back to her over his shoulder. The Kidou Master prodded his bo into Gin's shoulder blade, and he turned back to face Soi Fon as she sat down at the table.

For a few moments the room was silent, the four Kidou corpsmen in place, the two guardsmen on either side of the table. Matsumoto looked to Kazuko, his face expressionless. Soi Fon spent ten minutes reading during the silence, her pointed study of the ledger never changing.

"Do you swear upon your life, Ichimaru, that the answers you've given in this interrogation are true?" she finally asked.

"Yep, Captain. All true."

"Have you misled Vice-Captain Matsumoto during her questioning?"

"No, Captain."

Soi Fon looked at him for a long moment, then to Matsumoto farther behind the Kidou corpsmen. "Record now, Juusan," she said.

"Yes, Captain," the scribe said, her head bowing over her tablet, pen at the ready.

Soi Fon repeated her questions to Ichimaru over the next two hours, covering much of what Matsumoto had from the previous days, including his statements of oaths and parts taken out of context and misquotes that were intended to determine his timeframe of alleged events.

Matsumoto was relieved to hear that he didn't change his version, including some of the damaging items she knew would give the Gotei 13 pause during voting, as well as parts that would outright put him beneath the war sword.

All the while Ichimaru sat attentive in the chair, his answers verging on sarcasm at times, but never crossing the tenuous, unmarked line that would send Soi Fon into a rage. Matsumoto watched him answer, saw his hands behind him, sometimes folded, sometimes limp, but mostly with fingers locked into each other.

And she knew he was angry. She didn't know if he was angry because Soi Fon was back, or if it was that he too knew he couldn't entirely prove his allegations of covert work. By the time the Second Division captain had finished her inquiry, nothing had changed. Matsumoto didn't know if he was closer to the West Courtyard or not.

"Ichimaru Gin, you'll stand," Soi Fon said, rising to her feet behind the table. Juusan remained seated, her pen still on the pad of paper.

Matsumoto stood without being addressed, her hand around the katana hilt until her knuckles were white.

"As former captain of Third Division, I personally feel you're an enemy to Soul Society, and deserve to have your neck under the sword," Soi Fon said tightly, eyes narrowing at him. "The Gotei Thirteen has decided to vote tomorrow morning on your involvement. You're being charged with treason, at Level Four."

Gin frowned at her. "Level Four? At most, Level Three, Captain."

"Would you like to lose all consideration of a vote, Ichimaru?" Soi Fon barked, making Juusan flinch.

"No, Captain," he said, shaking his head, hands still clasped behind him. "But Level Four is complicity. At most it should be Level Three. Withholding. I know how Soul Society works, and --"

"You know how it _used_ to work, Ichimaru!" Soi Fon's small fists were on the table as she leaned over it, her face dark. "Level Four for treason. Final vote is tomorrow. You'll be informed then. Take him out of here."

The hood was pulled over Ichimaru's head instantly and he was escorted down the aisle way by the Kidou Corps and two guardsmen. Matsumoto watched him go, her heart sinking as he turned his head in her direction. When he'd left with the guards, she looked back to Soi Fon at the table collecting her papers.

"Vice-Captain Matsumoto, your assistance in this matter has been invaluable," Soi Fon said without looking up. "You're finished here. Your visitations to Horyo Two are denied. You may leave."

Matsumoto's hand rested on the sword hilt, the leather grip familiar in her hands, and beckoning her to take it at that moment. For the first time she could recall, vengeance crept up on her. She bowed.

"Yes, Captain."

* * *

The West Courtyard of Second Division was nearly as large as Eleventh Division's East Court, but was reserved for more formal occasions, such as the impending execution.

Centered in the field was a large circle of red, with Second Division's banner raised on a pole, from which also waved the black and red banner in the noon day sun. The heat hadn't let up since morning, and by the time all thirteen divisions were represented by captains, vice-captains, and third seateds, centered by rings according to rank, the air was stifling.

The loosely-formed innermost circle was made up of captains, with the exception of Third, Fifth, and Ninth Divisions. The next ring was of all thirteen squad vice-captains, and the third largest outer ring was of third seateds, with each division's banner on a pole in hand.

In the center of the inner circle stood Retsu Unohana with Yamamoto, and to the General's side, the Second Division executioner. He wasn't the largest man from Second, but he was adept with the broad-bladed war sword. His shihakusho was red, a black sash at his waist, the sword's long hilt gripped by both hands below its s-shaped cross-guard.

Matsumoto stood in the middle circle of vice-captains, her attention on Momo who stood on the other side of Kira beside her. The small vice-captain of Fifth kept her eyes on the grass before her, a few feet behind and to the left from where Hitsugaya stood in the inner captains' ring. She was as carefully dressed as always, as she had been during her years of service to her former captain. But her eyes were dry, and Matsumoto was glad for that.

Kira to her left was a little more inflexible than usual, his eyes holding a harder look than she'd seen him wear. She looked across the ring of captains to where Hisagi stood behind the empty spot for Ninth Division's captain in the inner ring. His eyes were locked on hers for a moment, and then they shifted to the east side of the circles.

From the east across the field came Soi Fon and Marechiyo Omaeda and six Second Division guardsmen, with Aizen and Tousen in their midst, hands bound, in brown mompe pants and jimbei, barefoot. Not a sound was heard through the circles, only the flap of the banners overhead.

Matsumoto looked to Momo, but the younger woman only gave Aizen a cursory look as he was led into the center of the gathered shinigami. Matsumoto saw Hitsugaya shift to his left, blocking part of Momo's view of the proceedings as there was no captain before her or Kira. Ukitake and Kyouraku both wore looks of disgust and regret at the former captains as they were led to the center.

Aizen and Tousen were halted before Yamamoto, who stared back at them with remorse. "It's a mournful day when the Gotei Thirteen must execute their own." He looked from Aizen to Tousen. "You've pled guilty to high treason, and a vote has been cast by your former comrades. I speak for all of Soul Society when I say we had the highest of hopes for you both."

Aizen said nothing, his gaze turning back to where he knew Momo to be.

Hitsugaya moved slightly to block more of the vice-captain's view, but his effort was unneeded. Momo's eyes were only a little moist, and simmering below that was contained loathing.

All eyes were on Aizen, but he only stared back at Yamamoto. He lifted his head to meet the General's eyes. "Soul Society has outgrown its use."

The older man frowned at him. "Is that what you were attempting to change?"

"No."

"I have no regrets," Tousen said, standing tall beside Aizen. "There is no honor in Soul Society."

Yamamoto shook his head. "How many lives does it take to avenge one, Tousen?"

"Killing with a purpose is justice; everything else is just murder."

Yamamoto's gaze hardened on the former captain. "Then justice is served today." He turned to the executioner. "Proceed."

Soi Fon stepped closer to the prisoners. "On your knees, Tousen," she said briskly.

Tousen dropped to the ground, his hands anchored behind him as he knelt, his head bent over the grass before him. The executioner took his position at the man's side.

Hisagi's jaw tightened, his eyes narrowing on his former captain as the large sword was raised overhead and brought down swiftly with a _thunk_. He watched the headless body fall over, and then looked slowly to Kira, Momo, and then Matsumoto.

Momo admitted a small gasp, making Hitsugaya take half a step back out of line. Beside her, Abarai grabbed her arm as she swayed a little, but she shook her head, brushing off his hand.

He nodded and released her, and she made an effort at standing firmly on her own feet.

"On your knees, Aizen," Soi Fon commanded.

Aizen went to his knees, lowering his head slowly as the executioner stood beside him. Out of the corner of her eye, Matsumoto saw Abarai's hand close around Momo's elbow, and this time the girl didn't object. Or maybe she didn't notice.

The blade swung down, severing head from body, and Aizen's torso fell to the ground.

Momo's hand went over her mouth, but her eyes remained on the fallen form, half supported by Abarai. She blinked slowly, and then stood straighter.

Unohana looked down at the decapitated bodies, and then to each of the captains in the inner circle, their faces an assortment of sorrow, reprisal, and resolution. "Is there any question as to the deaths of Aizen and Tousen?"

No one said anything.

She looked out over the assembly with a weary gaze. "Would anyone care to examine the bodies?"

Again no one spoke.

Yamamoto nodded. "Companies dismissed. Captains, voting commences tomorrow morning."

Some drifted off quickly, others more slowly from the courtyard. Unohana had Isane Kotetsu pull a large burgundy cloth over the bodies as the shinigami left the field. Momo had regained her feet, murmuring her thanks to Abarai, and found herself escorted out of the courtyard with him and Kira.

Hitsugaya and Hisagi were among the last to leave. Hisagi only shook his head; Hitsugaya stood with one hand on his baldric, his scowl more intense than usual as he looked to the bodies.

"I heard Hinamori has been cleared," Matsumoto said as her captain turned to her.

He nodded, eyes fastening on her. "No one voted for the charges to stick except Second Division." He looked to each of her eyes. "How are you?"

She shrugged, looking to the cloth where the blood had started to seep through and color the burgundy material darker. "Managing."

Hisagi joined them. "The first executions of captains in Soul Society history."

They made their way off the field as more Second and Fourth Division personnel joined Unohana and Soi Fon.

"Hopefully it will be the last," Hitsugaya said, sighing.

Matsumoto looked to him quickly as Hisagi glanced her way. For a few long moments none spoke again, until they were on the streets of Second Division, following the haphazard groups of squads ahead of them. Hisagi looked to where Momo was still walking between Kira and Abarai, her steps unfailing even if her posture was a bit stooped. He looked to Matsumoto, and then Hitsugaya, and made his excuses before catching up with Kira.

Matsumoto watched her young captain's eyes as they followed Momo's form ahead of them. The typical scowl was replaced by a rare tenderness she'd seen on him only when he looked at the small vice-captain of Fifth Division. He noticed her study as they turned out of the gates of Second Division.

"Your reports were detailed with personal information, Matsumoto," he finally said.

She sighed, blinking slowly. "The scribes wrote down everything that was said, Captain. I had no --"

"It works in your favor," he added, sparing her a sideways look. "As painful as it is to read some of them, it lends a vulnerability to the report. It doesn't appear rehearsed, or contrived. Still, Ichimaru's made no new friends."

"I suppose not."

"Kira and Hisagi are cleared, but I think you knew that."

She nodded. "And Hinamori."

His eyes softened as he looked at the girl ahead of them, her cap moving quickly as she nodded at Kira. "She'll not make captain. She doesn't have the leadership."

Matsumoto didn't know what to say, so she only nodded.

"Don't count on votes from Captains Yamamoto or Soi Fon."

"No; Captain Soi Fon has made her opinions known."

"Second Division will be sending another dispatch back to the Living World to find Urahara. After the vote tomorrow."

"I see."

Hitsugaya watched Kira and Hisagi break apart from Momo and Abarai as they dissolved into the intersection deeper in the Seireitei. "Zaraki hasn't been too vocal about any of Ichimaru's reports. It's hard to say how he'll vote."

She looked to him with new interest, realizing her captain was about as close as he could get to actually informing her of the captains' meetings. "There's a lot to consider."

"Yes. Ichigo Kurosaki's report was nearly illegible," he said with a frown, "but what he included about the events on Soukyoku Hill were inconclusive. Captain Kuchiki's report on the matter was downright damning, I can tell you." He saw the alarm in her face, and added: "But his report's been colored about everything. He lost Kuchiki Ginrei in the Council of Forty-Six massacre."

"Oh. Yes," she murmured.

"Captains Ukitake, Kyouraku, and Unohana have seen the most, aside from Captain Yamamoto. They've witnessed Aizen working from the beginning. I don't know if that helps or hinders your case." He frowned quickly. "Ichimaru's case."

She smiled at him. _Outside he was one big spike_, _but underneath that shock of white hair and formality he had a legitimately soft heart,_ she thought.

"Thank you, Captain."

The sharpness came back to his eyes. "The odds are split, and not in his favor. Be ready for any vote, Rangiku."

* * *

Matsumoto pulled the brush through her hair in her quarters later that day, her thoughts concentrated on the task at hand. The day had dissolved into evening, the streets quiet throughout the divisions as contemplation sifted among speculation. She'd turned down Kira and Hisagi's invitation to the Ninth Division's vice-captain's quarters. Word had spread that new captains were to be promoted, and Hisagi, Madarame, and Abarai's names had circulated freely.

She knew Madarame would probably turn down any chance at captaincy; the dedicated third seat of Eleventh Division had made his preference known already. Hisagi would most likely be made full captain of Ninth, she figured, and Abarai would probably be asked to fill one of the spots in Third or Fifth. It still left one position open.

Damp from the open shouji at the back of the small abode lent a chill to the room, but she didn't notice it. She retied the detailed obi at her slender waist, and then settled the pendant chain at her chest. She draped the pink scarf over her shoulders and flipped her hair out over it.

She then set off to Second Division to see what lengths it took to visit Horyo Two against Captain Soi Fon's command.

There was a certain slack among the guards at Second Division's detention center, and Matsumoto attributed it to the decrease in high security prisoners in the deep cell containment section. The slanted windows let in only moonlight now as she passed them, shedding eerie pale slots of light on the floor.

She glanced at Horyo Four as she came upon Ulquiorra's cell. He stood leaned against the far wall, his gaze lifting when she came into his limited view. She wondered briefly at his sentencing. _How much could a tribunal fault a subordinate following orders from a superior officer?_ She'd heard Orihime Inoue had left earlier with the Quincys and Uryuu Ishida, but had made her interest known as to the outcome of the Fourth Espada's fate. The guard at his cell inlet watched her pass by, but said nothing.

She halted before the guard at Ichimaru's cell, relieved it was one she'd seen before. "Good evening, Guardsman Kibune. I would like to see Horyo Two."

He frowned at her, rising to his full height. "You know visitors have been suspended."

"I know that."

He nodded slowly, his attention going to where the other guard outside the fourth cell was staring straight ahead at the slotted windows across from him. Kibune looked back to Matsumoto.

"No visitors are allowed," he said, even as he unlocked the cell door. He opened it slowly, minimizing the squeak of the hinges. "Five minutes, Vice-Captain. Leave your sword here," he said mutedly as she passed.

"Thank you, Guardsman Kibune." She removed Haineko and leaned it against the side of the cell before she entered.

She looked into the darkened cell where little light seeped, magnifying the forlornness of the dreary compartment. Gin looked to her, his face unreadable in the poor light as he stood at the bars.

She met him there, wishing she could see him better.

"I see you got yourself let in, Ran," he said in a low tone, smiling as her hands closed around the bars by his. "What did you have to do for that?"

She shook her head, smiling back at him.

He nodded. "I heard Aizen and Tousen are gone."

She watched his hands cover hers on the bars in the dim light, feeling the warmth that had always calmed her through storm and fear. "I don't want to be alone again, Gin."

"You have friends here; they're going --"

"I want you. Always. I'm always alone without you, and I can't take that again." She shook her head as he put one hand to the side of her neck, his finger slipping beneath the pendant chain.

"Well, you've got friends that care." His voice took on an amused quality. "I'm sure Shuuhei can make time for you."

"Don't tease me, Gin."

"No. No time for that." His hand moved beneath her hair, pulling her face closer to his. "I am sorry, Rangiku. I do love you. You know that."

They were the words from the night before, that he'd said so quietly as Junana had stood at the door. Hearing them again, even louder, didn't ease the ache in her soul. She nodded, her own words refusing to form.

"Last night you could say it. You can't now?"

She looked into his eyes. "You know it. Always, Gin."

He nodded.

Outside the cell door Kibune coughed.

He pulled her closer, as close as the bars between them allowed, pressing his lips firmly to hers, feeling the slight tremble in them, her fingers curling tightly beneath his. His lips moved to her eyes, then softly to her forehead, as they had when she was frightened as a child, wishing for a moment he could take her back to those early days in the shack, and begin again.

"Vice-Captain," the guard said into the doorway.

Matsumoto nodded, lingering close to Gin for a moment more, memorizing everything she could absorb from him, his smell, his hands, the line of a smile she could barely see in the dark, the touch of his skin against her neck beneath her hair.

She separated from him, her hands shaking. "Goodbye, Gin."

"Goodbye, Rangiku."

He watched her step away from the bars, and walk out the cell door.

* * *

**A/N: _Death to the traitors! Poll is up._**

_Thanks to all who have voted!_


	17. Odds

Matsumoto awoke the next morning with her head still on the window sill of her bedroom. She hadn't slept long. The early morning sun was stretching long shadows into the room, warming her cheek as she raised her head. She looked out the window, but could only see Tenth Division's flag pole. From it waved the Division banner, solitarily.

By the time she got to the Division offices she'd seen Seventh Division's flag, also a lone banner. She didn't hope, not yet. The vote wasn't to be cast until that morning, but no time had been set.

She knew Hitsugaya was there already; she could feel his reiatsu ebbing from his office, which only made her wonder if he'd already placed his vote.

She peeked around the divider between their offices, his posture making her smile.

For once he was acting his age. He was leaned back in the tipped chair, his feet on the desk, hands clasped over his stomach, nearly snoring.

_Not quite snoring,_ she thought, but definitely dozing. Had he missed the vote?

She was about to turn back to her own office when she saw him flinch and then catch himself as the chair wobbled. He righted himself and looked to her, clearing his throat and straightening his robe.

"You're up early, Matsumoto." He busied himself with the small stack of papers before him on the desk.

"You, too, Captain." She edged nearer. "I can take care of those."

He shook his head as she reached for the paperwork. "No; they're finished." He studied her for a long moment. "The votes are in. Most of the captains assembled last night to discuss. There will be no more executions, Rangiku."

For a moment she just stared at him, frozen in surprise as he sighed and looked down at the papers. "He was charged down to Level Three by a vote of six to four, and that's a stretch at execution. All in all, it was decided Ichimaru was more help than harm. In the end. But that doesn't mean he isn't guilty."

"Oh, no. Not, not quite..." She smiled slowly, her mind drifting as he looked up at her.

"The vote was seven to three against execution, even at Level Three. Captain Soi Fon was adamant about Level Four. Captains Yamamoto and Kuchiki were for execution, but I think the General knew he'd be outvoted against it. Not Captain Kuchiki." Hitsugaya scowled at mention of the nobleman. "He's filing a formal complaint, but it won't go anywhere, Matsumoto. Not with everything else. Captain Soi Fon didn't even push it toward the end. I guess she's a little distracted with Urahara anyway. She already left for the Living World this morning."

She wanted to replay Hitsugaya's words over in her mind again and again, but she knew there was more to the vote. "Was a sentence decided?"

"He has assets we may be able to incorporate into Soul Society, is the official version," he said with a bit of a growl. "In what capacity is yet to be decided. He'll be stripped of any entitlements, his reiatsu sealed permanently. House arrest in Special Containment in Division Thirteen. With the rest."

She nodded slowly. She knew little of the Special Containment holding center, only that it housed the few remaining survivors of the disbanded Maggot's Nest from Second Division's days of upheaval when Urahara had been banished to the Living World, and a few other unclassified reprobates that didn't exactly belong in Second's incarceration. Mostly it was prisoners the captain of Second Division couldn't be trusted to house for one reason or another.

"Captain Kurotsuchi has expressed interest in Aizen's scientific progress, and Ichimaru will be expected to help in that," he added when she didn't say anything, instead looking to him with a mixture of shock and relief. "The Espada will be aiding with that, too. In an advisory manner, after preliminary tests, in Arrancar physiology." He frowned. "The Gotei Thirteen have decided to take a closer look at Aizen's ability to hypnotize en masse."

Even dead, Matsumoto felt the former captain's influence lend a chill to the air. "Kanzen Saimin."

"Kyoka Suigetsu was a Ryuusui zanpaku-tô, but Aizen was able to take it to extremes no one ever expected, and we don't want that happening again. The Academy students and recent graduates are all to be thoroughly examined. Ichimaru spent most of his time in Soul Society under Aizen as vice-captain. He may be able to help identify possible problems with the Ryuusui elements."

"I see. You think there could be more?"

"Who knows?" He shook his head. "Captain Soi Fon has already detailed a list of what she wants from Ichimaru about Las Noches security, and the Kidou Master is in line for a debriefing of him."

"Thank you, Captain," she said. "For everything through this."

"I could have been worse," he admitted, frowning over the paperwork. "I submitted the forms to allow you visitation, Matsumoto. Don't forget yourself."

"I won't." She bowed deeply, smiling. "Thank you, Captain."

"Well, it hasn't been sighed yet. It might not go through. I don't think Captain Ukitake will have a problem with it, but it needs the seal of a senior Second Division officer."

She nodded. "I see." She took a deep breath, trying to keep her concentration on matters of the office. "I suppose I'm behind in my duties here, after the last week."

"No." He looked to her for a moment, his green eyes softening a little. "You're caught up. You can have the day off, Rangiku."

Sometimes Matsumoto wanted to plant a big kiss on her captain's unruly shock of white hair, but she resisted. "Thank you, Captain."

A low knock came from the front door and she went to answer it. Junana looked up to her when she opened the door, a smile crossing the girl's usually expressionless face.

"Good morning, Vice-Captain Matsumoto-san," she said with a bow.

Matsumoto's hopes wavered when she saw the scribe. "Good morning, Junana."

"For you." She held out a rolled paper, her smile growing.

"Thank you." Matsumoto fingered the tie on the roll, hesitant at what it may contain. "Thank you for your assistance, Junana."

She bowed again. "Thank you. Goodbye."

"Goodbye." Matsumoto watched the girl turn and make her way down the walkway to the street, where she joined another figure. She lifted an eyebrow, recognizing the male youth who had assisted Hisagi as scribe on other occasions.

"What's this?" Hitsugaya asked, bringing a start from her.

Matsumoto looked to him, and then unrolled the paper. She immediately recognized the seal from Second Division on the top of the paper. She read it quickly, the few paragraphs of precise penmanship, to the bottom where the seals from Tenth and Thirteenth Divisions were stamped. She sighed, smiling at the pass to Special Containment.

"Thank you, Captain."

Hitsugaya nodded. "Make sure you thank Captain Ukitake and Third Seat Aibu, too."

"I will."

* * *

Matsumoto had never been to Special Containment. She vaguely recalled the closure of the Maggot's Nest following the trial and banishment of Urahara. She'd been young, still in academy training, and no one had said much about the removal and placement of the underground residents.

The pass was tight in her hand as she made her way down the Thirteenth Division streets, showing the paper to the few guards that didn't recognize her. They only nodded, an uneasy look coming to their faces when they saw the paper, pointing to the wooden bridge that crossed the slow moving river at the back of the Division.

On the other side of the bridge the grounds dissolved into a pathway in a thickly wooded region, and from this to a large enclosure of about three acres surrounded by high bamboo fencing. She halted at the solid double gates, eyeing the four extremely large guards that stood to the sides. She recognized the insignia of Eleventh Division on their armbands, puzzled a little at first at the presence in Thirteenth Division, until realizing the facility was probably a multi-Division effort.

"Declare yourself, Vice-Captain," one of the guardsmen said as she halted before the doors.

"Tenth Division Vice-Captain Matsumoto, Guardsman," she said, bowing. She offered the pass.

He took it and read it with a slight scowl. "Oh. Our new detainee." He looked her over for an appreciative moment, nodding. "Okay. Leave your weapon here, and watch your step inside."

"Yes, Guardsman."

She left Haineko at the bamboo wall as another guardsman lifted the heavy bolt at the door and pushed it in enough for her to enter. She held her breath at what lay beyond, and then let it out once she got her first glimpse.

Before her opened a single hot, dusty street that dead-ended at the opposite wall, the tall trees visible from over the wall. On either side along it were two small dormitories, each with a separate entrance, each guarded at the doorways with a Kidou Corpsman and an Eleventh Division guardsman. She sighed. _Not too bad,_ she decided.

"Pass, please, Vice-Captain," a deep voice said to her side.

She looked quickly to the tall, heavily muscled Second Division officer, his hand outstretched, his stony face void of any emotion.

"Of course." She handed him the pass.

He looked at it summarily, and pointed to the row of apartments on the left side of the street. "Last compartment."

She nodded, taking the pass as he returned it. "Thank you, Guardsman."

She moved down the street slowly, looking at the few occupants that loitered on porches in front of the domiciles, most leaning against the wall, dozing or scratching, watching her pass, some snickering lowly, some outright surprised to see _anyone_.

She glanced briefly into the open doorways as she advanced to the last compartment. _Basic_, she thought, with a table, bed, mats. _Much better than Second Division's deep cell containment._

At the last section she paused, standing at the doorway where the Kidou corpsman and guard stood watch. They merely looked at her without a word. She decided they weren't interested in her papers, so she let her eyes adjust to the poorer lighting inside. Small but clean, basic, the table stacked with paperwork and folders, rolled maps. The guards' attention turned back to the street. She looked quickly to the side of the doorway as a figure moved.

"Well, well, Vice-Captain," Gin said, grinning at her look of grateful relief. "I see you found your way here."

She smiled as he took her hand, pulling her inside. "No bars now between us, Gin."

"No."

She looked down at the heavy, separate cuffs on each of his wrists, and then up at the white jimbei. Her fingers passed over the thick cuffs that sealed his reiatsu, the warmth still surrounding him as she remembered. She looked to his face for a long moment, feeling his arms slowly come around her, inching her closer.

"You won."

He shook his head. "Stages of losing, Rangiku."

She sighed, settling against him, her arms encircling his waist, looking up at him. "It doesn't look too bad here."

"Not bad. Earning my keep." His eyes left her only for a moment, glancing at the set of rooms. His arms pulled her tighter, face lowering to hers. He sighed, stroking her hair softly. "I'm back to the shack where I began, Rangiku."

She smiled. "Welcome back."

* * *

**A/N: Thanks for voting in the poll! Thanks also to all readers and reviewers!**

Thank you especially to _purpleshinigami, Reviewer, CherryBlossom7w7, War90, Lena Sauran, HK-Revan, Samebito Ryu, Stelra Etnae, Shikenkino Shio, Shaitan, Mistral-black, Hanyou Hitokiri, foxfacegin, justagirl8225, Noree-Chan, grilledjellyfish, neoaltoid, jokerstrikesback, RedSeraph, Houkaru Kisaragi, CrazyGirlofManyNames, GildedWitch08, Cloudy_Kun, Takika, Reader, Kenta Divina, Hope, ravens rising, Applescruffs, MatsuMama,_ _Mimi, Banshee-san, Sam Junno, Kishimoto Erika, _and _Chancel._


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